


Quod Si Amor Vincit Omnia

by LyraInTheDark



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Latin Challenge, Retelling, Smut, What if?, the good stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-10
Updated: 2014-12-15
Packaged: 2017-12-10 23:37:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 67
Words: 69,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/791483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyraInTheDark/pseuds/LyraInTheDark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If love is to conquer all, it must first have its chance.  Let everything begin again; let everything be new.  Let one change unleash an avalanche of impossibilities.<br/>Some will be broken.  Some will be forsaken.<br/>Two will win the greatest prize of all...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rerum Primordia

**Author's Note:**

  * For [velvet_sometimes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/velvet_sometimes/gifts).



 

It begins with a girl, who is pulled down a well.  
Her name is Higurashi Kagome, and she has lived a normal life from the moment of her birth until this moment -

But now she is spinning through time with the claws of the demon that has grabbed her pressed sharp against her skin, digging deep for the red, vital blood, and inside her head, her grandfather's voice echoing in calm tones that she finds _unfitting_ to her situation.

“ _...and our ancestors threw the bones and bodies of demons into the well, and they would disappear, never to be seen again.”_

Kagome falls through darkness, and then through light – and then, once again, through darkness. There are claws on her as she falls, and when she lands on the dirt she lands hard on the _thing_ that grabbed her. The impact dazes her brain and makes her dizzy, nauseous – only her memory of her grandfather's words remains, solid as the chitinous writing beneath her.

_Am I...disappeared?_

Color resolves into darkness, resolves into a distant day.

_Am I...never to be seen again?_

Numbness becomes tingling, becomes pain.

_Mama? Souta...grandfather..._

Kagome hears a voice, feminine and sleek and deadly – it purrs in her ear, and she feels slick wetness caress the curve of her ear, the line of her throat –

“Shikon no tama....shikon no tama, give to me...the shikon no tama!”

“Shi...kon?”

The wetness curves around Kagome's throat and out of the corner of her eye she sees it is a _tongue_ – impossibly long -

“Shikon no tama – _shikon no tama_!”

And then there is unbearable, blinding pain, like a knife driven into her side. Something within her that she did not know she had is taken; something bound to her body and to her soul both is ripped away. The claws that grabbed her have already flung her away, so that she comes out of the well, and crashes to the ground beside it on her injured side.

She screams in agony and she screams in terror – she screams even as a great flare of pink light rises from beside her, within her, from her blood and that which has left her bleeding, and explodes upward and outward.

She screams again, feeling her body peppered with shards of heat -

She sees the light growing, swelling, continuing -

Then there is darkness again, the welcome, unconscious darkness.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Ad Lucem

The light, the spiraling consequence of energy that is the last thing Kagome sees, is the first thing in months to attract Kouga's attention, to interest him. He is Ookami, youkai, powerful, the Alpha of the packs of wolves that roam the forests and the lands of the East that surround Edo – Edo, that will one day become Kagome's Tokyo.

The glare catches his attention because it is distant, but powerful – it is pink and enormous, a shining energy that pulses low on the horizon and then explodes outward. It washes over him, a tingling purity that is not strong enough to burn, but certainly is warning. Its scent lingers; fruit, flowers, incense, smoke.

Kouga contemplates for only a moment, and then turns and runs for the center of the explosion; behind him, the pack runs in a yelping file, spread out through the trees and howling just for the glory of it, howling to frighten flocks of fleeing birds from the ancient trees.

“Kouga-sama – Kouga-sama! Where are we going -”

“Kouga-sama, the cubs can't keep up -”

“You two come with me then, and tell the rest to wait. I'm going to see – what's going on in the south. That light - I want to know what it is, that light!”

There is still a glow, though it is fading; Ginta and Hakkaku turn their eyes to it, not nearly as curious as their Alpha but resigned to their duty, the responsibility of _beta_ that they share.

They pass the message back quickly to grateful Wolves, and then turn and follow Kouga into the trees, following not the light, which is gone now, but the _presence_ that erupted with it. They are both young, barely past their first century, but Kouga is older and he _knows_ this feeling, has felt it before but was not strong enough then to challenge for possession of what he knew he was sensing.

_Shikon no tama. A jewel of power – **the** jewel of power. _

And while he runs he contemplates how glorious it will be, to have a wish of unlimited power...and yet as much as he tries, he cannot think of what that wish should _be_. The only thing he wants, as he has always wanted it, is to rule and grow, to protect his pack and expand their territory, to become stronger, better, the master of more lands, the alpha of all wolves, alpha of alphas....

 _But not because of a monkey's paw; not because of an effortless wish_.

He wants to _win_ the world, not be given it; he wants to know that everything he possesses is something he has earned.

It is with these thoughts on his mind that he finds himself suddenly in the midst of a clearing that has become splintered carnage.

The presence of power is strong here, stronger than he had expected, but strangely distributed – there is a woman on the ground, a human – there is a dry well, it's sill cracked and broken, as if something had exploded within it – there is a hanyou, deeply enchanted, slumbering beneath a twisted web of vines, bound by an arrow that carries the breath of a miko's power.

And he sees two things then in the same moment – that the girl on the ground is bleeding, that she is the source of the scent that he knew was the scent of power...and that a shard of pink flicker is buried in the ground an inch from his foot.

He bends and plucks it from the dirt, feels it pulse in his fingers, calling to him, tempting him; he knows what it is, immediately, and grins.

“Ginta, Hakkaku, search this clearing. Find every single grain of this that you can – look.”

He holds out the shard between his fingers, lets the light glitter off the surface.

“It's a piece of the shikon no tama. It's been broken; that was the light, the explosion of power when it shattered. I wonder...how it happened?”

There is noise as Ginta and Hakkaku obey his order and begin to search the clearing for shards; there are many, driven deep into the trees and the ground – and Kouga sees more, pink blazons driven into the flesh of the girl as he crouches over her. He turns her, and she moans faintly, giving away her breath to the air; he sees the wound on her side, bleeding still and freshening its flow as he moves her.

“Woman – woman!”

But she does not move, does not answer, does not wake up.

_And she is the only witness; only she knows what happened here. And her scent – her scent and the scent of her blood is the same as the jewel – why would that be?_

“Who are you, girl? Who are you, and what is your power?”

 


	3. Mirabile Visu

If Kouga wants her to answer him, he knows what he has to do; it is not _natural_ to him, taking care of a human woman, but curiosity and desire both compel him. She is lovely, he can see that now; her skin is faintly tanned, but smooth and perfect with all the grace youth can give. Her scent is shikon no tama and innocence, tainted with strange smokes he cannot identify – tainted by time.

He tears a strip from her torn shirt, and uses it to bind the wound at her side. It is relatively clean; the bleeding has made it so, but this is not the place to stop and bathe her and she is growing pale now, too pale; too much of her life has seeped into the dirt.

She is unconscious but she gasps and turns, flailing her arms as he ties off the bandage.

“Sorry, woman, but you'll thank me later.”

He turns her on her side face again then; there are shards of gem imbedded in her back, her thighs, her arms – one is tangled in her hair, and one has sliced her cheek, a shallow, lucky cut just below her eye. He finds one that cut her scalp imbedded in the ground near her where her forehead had rested, in a spot of blood. There is a sparkle in her right palm, and in the heel of her left foot – but when he reaches across her body for one, the most prominent, sticking out of her left shoulder – all of them, every single one, begins to wiggle into her flesh.

He waits for the scream, for her to awake – and instead, the woman lets out a long, contented sigh, and barely winces. The wounds left behind by the vanished shards close over – even the wound on the woman's cheek, in which no shard remains. The pieces leave behind, not scars, but pale, lavender marks. They are not all the same – a stripe on her cheek, a starburst on her shoulder, patterns of lines on her back and a trio of smooth crescents on her hip, visible where her skirt is torn – and her hair, her hair was bleached of all its color and shivered to lavender shine.

There is more sighing then, when the wounds are healed – but there is still fresh blood flowing from the bandaged wound at her side, and no time to contemplate the _more_ of this mystery.

He lifts her in his arms, finds her light and warm and barely breathing. Even as he is doing so, careful not to drop the shard in his fist, Ginta and Hakkaku cross the clearing to his side, and stare down at the woman he is carrying before they speak.

“Kouga-sama -”

“Kouga-sama, there's so many of these – but I think we've found them all.”

Each of them opens their hands to show a glittering spectacle of power, shards of all sizes with equal gleam. For a moment, Kouga stares, his smile widening, growing, showing all his teeth -

“Good job – now let's see...the pack is waiting...and its about time we were home, isn't it.”

“Home? We haven't been home since -”  
“Since the end of Spring. I know; far too long. It's Autumn already, time to begin the hunts – past time. But I've been bored, and the forest is at its best this time of year...”

Kouga tightens his grip on the woman he's holding and presses forward with her past his two companions.

“For now, this woman is my priority. I want to know what she knows – why she is different from every other human we've seen. Look at her clothes, her shoes – have you ever seen material like that? And her hair...her body...she has shards of the shikon no tama inside her. They _changed_ her – she was not marked like that before.

“If she dies, I won't know what happened, and I want to know. You two, go back to the pack and tell them to head directly home. I am bringing the girl to the village to have her tended, and then I will follow you.”

“To – the village, Kouga-sama?”  
“Yes. It's nearby – can't you smell it?”  
“Yes, but -”

“They won't hurt me; I'm in no danger. In fact -”

Kouga stops for a moment, and takes the shard in his hand, clenches his fist around it, piercing his palm on the sharp point. It begins to fuse with his flesh almost immediately, becomes alive with movement and then settles within his hand; he can no longer feel it, but he knows it is there.

“Kouga-sama!”

“What? Did you think I asked you to find those pieces just because they were shiny? You can feel the power in them – I know you can. Enough to enhance the strength of any youkai or human...”

And again he looks at the girl, and wonders what it was that had caused the jewel to shatter in the first place; had it been her power? Had she been attacked? Was she from the village nearby? If not...where had she come from?

_Only you can answer my questions, woman. Wake up soon – soon!_

He was suddenly anxious of what would happen if she died; if he was never able to answer any of those questions; if he was denied the sudden, obnoxious poetry of her scent.

_There's no wisdom in this; there's no point but curiousity. I have the power – the shards – not all of them, but so many...and I know that it was broken, when nobody else does...why isn't that enough?_

“Go, Ginta, Hakkakku. I should be home by tomorrow's nightfall; make sure you are there well before me. And make a room beside mine ready for this woman; she will be coming with me, unless she dies.”

And then he turns away and begins to run at the steady, swift pace he can sustain for hours, eating up the distance between himself and the village before Ginta and Hakkaku have even moved.  


	4. Nihil Sciunt

 

What Kouga finds when he arrives among the humans pleases him; the people cower away from him and his presence, and only the old miko whom he has need of stands to confront him, her right hand on a staff of knotted wood.

“Miko – this woman is wounded. You will heal her.”

With his stunning request, he holds out the girl in his arms like an offering, so that the bloody bandage that wraps around her midsection is visible. He sees the old woman taking in the strangeness of the clothes, the shoes, the hair – and he sees the moment when the old woman recognizes the power that is streaming from him and from the girl both.

He does not know how she recognizes it, but she does – she breathes the words and they flow over the woman to his ears.

“ _Shikon no tama_...”  
But then her eyes are drawn back to the blood, the stain still spreading, growing, darkening, and she beckons him forward and turns slowly, leaning on her cane.

“I am Kaede, the miko of this village. Edo is peaceful, and if you mean us no harm, then I see no reason not to help you. The girl – she is human. A miko...”

“Yes.”

But Kouga does not offer his name in return, nor the name of the woman, which he does not know. He speaks nothing further, only follows Kaede down the dusty path to her own house, and then inside.

“Put her down by the fire, and take away that bandage; the wound will need cleaning, and I have questions, if you don't mind -”

“I have no intention of answering you.”

Kouga shuts his eyes and sits on the floor beside the woman, leans back on one hand and flexed the other, feeling the power running through him, sharp, intense, just waiting to be used -

Kaede stands very still for just a moment, watching him, and then turns to her task. What she sees sets her heart pounding, enough so that she must steady herself before she continues. It is not the wound that distresses her, though it is certainly a painful and dangerous injury – no, it is not that. She has seen worse in her time; she has seen death face to face on many occasions, and this is not nearly so bad...

But the _face_ of this woman -

The face of this woman is a face she has seen before.

It is the face of her sister, Kikyou, dead now for fifty years...dead with the jewel whose presence now sparkles across her awareness.

Her eye wanders to the youkai again, for whom she has no name and only his appearance to judge; Wolf, she thinks, Ookami, but other than that she knows nothing.

She knows, though, looking at the woman she is tending, peering at her face while she heats water to wash the wound, that this is _not_ her sister. The facial identity is so exact it is frightening, but the lines of forehead and cheeks are not precisely the same. Still, relaxed in unconsciousness this woman is the twin of Kaede's sister as she lay in death.


	5. Pax Vobiscum

The Wolf is silent; too silent. Kaede keeps one eye on him and one eye on the herbs she soaks in water, once it has come to boil; she uses the gentle antiseptic to wash the wound, and takes note of the odd scars that pepper the body of the young woman. Blood stains them all, though they _are_ scars; it is fresh blood, darkening to a rusty brown crust on her skin. Kaede washes the stain away from one or two of the scars, but there are no wounds beneath the blood and so she turns back to the deeper wound.

The skin had been torn; Kaede could see that the wounds had been made by claws, but it was a strange wound, as if a hand had reached into the flesh of this woman and torn something out of her. Muscles and tissue had been rent in strange patterns, but Kaede only shook her head, and packed the wound with cotton and a healing poultice.

“You are through?”

Kouga had been so silent while she worked that the sound of his voice startled her into jumping.

“Well? Are you through, miko?”

Hesitantly, Kaede nodded, one eye on the woman and one eye on the Wolf.

“I am, indeed. But only for now; it's a rather serious wound and the dressing and poultice I have bond over it will need to be changed twice a day until she heals.”

“Twice a day? For how long?”

Kaede shook her head.

“I can't say, exactly. Until the wound closes; two weeks, perhaps a month...it depends on her body, on if she can eat well, and rest well -”  
“Impossible! I can't stay here for that long. Tomorrow; only until tomorrow morning, because by tomorrow's nightfall I have other places to be.”

Delicately, Kaede tried to broach the subject that most concerned her.

“This young woman needs my care, youkai Kouga. She is miko, and not of your kind. Perhaps – perhaps it would be best if you were to leave her here with me...”

But before she had finished speaking she knew that he would not agree, could see it in his face.

“No. No, miko, I will not leave this woman with you. But you're right. She does need care. You won't come with me; you wouldn't survive the journey...or the destination.”

Kouga stands then, stretches stiff muscles, and crosses his arms, looks down imposingly at the old miko.

“Do what you have to do to make sure she is ready to travel by morning; I'll be carrying her, keep that in mind. Whatever she needs – herbs, bandages, whatever...get that ready too. I'll tend her myself, until she's well again.”

And he wrinkles his nose, as if to say _how annoying_.

Kaede only nods; what else was there to do?

This woman was a stranger to her, even if she bore a familiar face; a nameless stranger, for whom she bore no responsibility...for whom she could _claim_ no responsibility, even if Kaede thought this woman was doomed to a terrible fate.

_This woman...I wonder who you are?_

Her thoughts mimicked Kouga, but she didn't know it.

 


	6. Qui Vigilat

 “There are others in the village that require my care, Kouga. Will you be staying here over night?”

“Yes. I won't leave her; don't even think about trying.”

“I...of course not. I have no intention of doing anything to provoke you; nor do the villagers. Please keep that in mind.”

He grinned, wide, feral, exposing a legion of sharp teeth.

The expression sent Kaede scurrying out into the night, and he sent his laughter after her. Miko she might be, but not strong enough to challenge _him_ – and she knew it, too.

Alone, he contemplated his position. He had done well enough, he thinks; the miko obeys, the woman will heal... _the woman_. He stares at her, contemplates the strangeness of her, feels the pulse of power in her that matches the power pulsing in his own palm.

_The old miko knows. Shikon no tama...but she hasn't said anything. She won't. But I wonder how she knows?_

It had the taste of a large secret, but he could put such considerations aside for later; the old miko was going nowhere, and he could always return to question her at his leisure. For now...for now, he wanted _little secrets_.

“Like your name, shikon woman...”

She stirred in her unconsciousness, and he saw the gleam of her eyes as they opened and was startled into stillness.

 _Blue_.

Exotic and lovely; he wondered if they had been that way before shards of the shikon no tama had infected her. She stretched, and then let out a high-pitched gasp of pain; she reached her hand down the side of her body, feeling the bandage that had been wrapped there, the damage to her clothes. Kouga heard her heartbeat speed faster, smelled the bitter _snap_ of fear as it grew in her scent.

He stepped closer, and he saw the moment she grew aware of his presence, the moment she caught sight of his gleaming eyes in the dimness of the little hut.

“You – you....are...who are – _who_ _are_ _you_?”

It was a good start, he thought; she had neither screamed, nor jerked away from him in terror. It didn't occur to him that it hadn't occurred to _her_ that he was youkai; that he was impossible to her, and not a clear and present danger.

“I'm Kouga, the Wolf-Alpha, the Ookami Prince.”

He grinned at her dazed expression, thought it was because of his rank when really she was frozen in disbelief.

“Who are _you_ , shikon woman? What's your name?”

She answered automatically.

“Kagome; I'm Kagome.”

 

 


	7. Sit Realis

 It takes Kagome's eyes a long minute to adjust to the dimness of the room she is in. It has no windows, but light comes in from the spaces between the slats of the wooden roof, and cracks between the boards of the walls – just not very much.

The man that was near her – _Kouga, the Wolf-Alpha?_ _What does that even mean?-_ was still and had not spoken since she had said her name. He appears enraptured by it; his lips are moving silently, making the shapes of the word. It disturbs her, but memory is flooding back on her – the _why_ of her position, even if the _how_ and the _where_ and the _what is going on_ had yet to be answered.

_The well. I was pulled into...I was pulled through the well._

She was suddenly paralyzed with fear. She remembered – she remembered what it was that had taken her! What it was that had _pulled_ her _._ Wounded her. Torn something from her -

_What was it? Small. Glowing. Not flesh – but – I -_

She feels _empty_. Like her _soul_ is leaking out; it is the loss of something she has never even noticed before, leeching richness from her perception but not from her senses. The thing – the thing that had ripped her open is nowhere near her now; her darting eyes can see at least that much. But in the calmer moment that follows, while she reaches down to touch the wound at her side again and feels cotton cloth, skillfully bound, she stares at _Kouga_ and tries to understand what she is seeing.

 _Kouga, the Wolf-Alpha_. _The...Ookami...Prince._

Her eyes remain on Kouga; specifically, on his swishing tail. She swallows, and uses her hands to push herself up so that she was sitting and also a bit further away from him. Her hair swings across her face and her eyes widen to see it, pale and violet and bleached of all its blackness – but that is not nearly as compelling as her suspicion.

His eyes are steady on her, a gleaming pair of ice blue crescents; they are wolf eyes. Night eyes. Hunter's eyes -

_Wolf eyes! And that tail -_

Kagome's thoughts flicker.

The centipede-woman-thing.

The screaming of her soul.

A jewel torn from her body, and a blazing light.

_The centipede-woman-thing. A youkai. A youkai!_

And Kouga...Kouga, who calls himself _Wolf-Alpha_? Who addresses her – who addresses her as _shikon woman_?

_Youkai!_

Within her, an inner sense that she knows to trust screams it at her. _Youkai. Ookami. A real beast – yes._ She knows it is the truth.

She takes a deep breath, and then regrets it and winces in pain. Kouga is by her side in a moment, but she is all right – and despite herself the first question out of her mouth has nothing to do with what she needs to know.

Later (much later) she will wonder why her survival instincts chose _that_ day of all days to go on a permanent vacation.

“Kouga...is it real, Kouga? Your tail?”

And she reaches out the fingers of her left hand to stroke the his living fur.


	8. Salve, Vale

 “It's real; of course it's real! Didn't I tell you? I'm the Wolf-Alpha; the -”

“The Ookami Prince. I remember. I – I've never met a youkai before. Well, technically speaking I've met _one_ but as she was trying to kill me at the time I don't think she counts. It's not like we were _properly introduced_.”

“Like we have been?”

Kagome smiles at him, and nods, and then lets out a long gasp of pain as she moves without thinking and stretches the open wound in her side. Kouga catches her head as she falls back and then finds himself with a double armful of pale woman.

“Hello, Kagome.”

He grins at her, and her eyes widen at the sight of the fangs prominent in his mouth, but the shock and the pain and the blood loss she had suffered are too much, piled on top of each other. She fades into unconsciousness with his voice in her ears, and Kouga draws her up into his arms and wonders at how smooth and perfectly she fits against his body.

He breathes the calm swelling of her scent; he cherishes her name, and considers her fearless beauty.

“Ginta and Hakkaku are going to have a fit when I come home with you; I bet they think I'm going to leave you in this village. Yes...that I'll get tired of you and leave you here, or feed you to the pack – but that fate isn't for you, shikon woman.”

He settles her against his chest and the curve of one arm and uses the other to reach up and brush the pale hair away from her forehead. His fingers linger, stroke her cheek.

“But I shouldn't call you that, should I? Now that I know your name...Kagome.”

His fingers continue their gentle stroking; he murmurs her name again, as if to himself.

“ _Kagome_...a mystery, and a power, and beautiful, too. Beautiful...”

Kouga dozes, sitting there, holding her as the afternoon passes into evening and darkens to night. The old miko returns before the moon has risen, her arms empty of the things she had brought with her when she left, but her step far heavier.

She steps over the threshold and lets out a sigh, and then holds her breath at the sight before her; so innocent, so terrible, so perfect.

For a moment, she keeps company with the phantoms of the past; with the memory of her sister, with another demon who had professed a friendlier nature than his kin -

But what did she know? Nothing, nothing at all; nothing about this Kouga, and nothing about the woman beside him.

She has only a moment to contemplate before her presence rouses Kouga to full wakefulness and he turns to glare at her through one open eye. His hands tighten possessively on the woman in his arms; she sighs, but does not move; the cradling heat of Kouga's body is a comfort to her broken body.

Kaede regards him for a moment before she moves to the opposite side of the fire pit and unrolls her futon, lays it out, puts down her pillow.

“I must sleep now, Kouga; I am old, and it has been a long day. If she needs me in the night do not hesitate to wake me. Otherwise, I will see you at dawn, and give you what you require...if you are still insistent on -”  
“Yes. We're leaving in the morning, miko; I wouldn't ask again, if I were you.”


	9. Qui Venatur

The early morning summons Kouga into wakefulness before the dawn has even stretched over the horizon. In his arms, Kagome doesn't stir; he looks down at her with surprise, as if he has forgotten she was there, but really he had expected her to move sometime during the night. Her wounded side is still pressed against his body, and it is with careful movements that he unwinds his cramped arms from around her sleeping shape and lays her on the empty futon beside the fire.

She mutters and murmurs her discontent to the air in front of her, and he smiles to hear it; on the other side of the fire, the old woman sleeps still, unmoving but for the rise and fall of her breath, and Kouga contemplates whether or not he should wake her. He decides against it; it is not yet dawn, and she has been cooperative so far. Better to make sure that she continues to cooperate than gain an extra hour for his run.

Instead, he walks soundless across the hut and out the door; there are quiet noises from some of the houses, the families of farmers who work the most distant fields already up and readying themselves for the day, but mostly there is silence.

The forest summons him, its wide presence, the promise that hides beneath the reaching trees and their branches. He scents the air and feels the wild nature within him churning; the hunting urge that comes for him every autumn is beginning to touch him now, the instinct to kill and feed, to gorge before the winter comes with snow. It occurs to him that Kagome will be hungry when she wakes, and that he himself hasn't eaten since the morning before he found her. Kouga makes up his mind in a moment and runs out of the village, leaving a whirlwind of dust behind.

His speed surprises him; he is fast, has always been fast, but this is something new – a greater intensity to his old movements. _The shikon no tama_ , he thinks, and grins, and then turns aside from the road that leaves out of the village and darts in among the tall swaying of the trees. Scents accost him; the mulchy odors of the undergrowth, green smells...he seeks for the scent of prey. Deer do not interest him; he wants richer meat than venison now – _but there_! An enticing aroma reaches out to him.

Kouga encounters a pair of idle serow as he follows the more promising trail; for a moment he considers the strange little half-goats and then moves on. His nose is hot on the track of a sounder of wild boar, and now that he is salivating over that smell nothing else will do.

They aren't hard to find; the whole sounder is on the move, streaming through the undergrowth away from the scent of _wolf_ that accompanied Kouga into the forest. It does them no good, of course; he is too fast, too intent, for mere beasts to have a chance of escaping from him. His eye is on a fat sow near the back of the group, and the moment he has a clear path Kouga leaps forward and lashes out with a handful of deadly claws.

They connect; the sow falls squealing at the back of the sounder and the racing of the others becomes more panicked still. Kouga is distracted from them by the sow at his feet; the slash of his claws did far more than he intended. The sow bears a deep, gaping wound, not the deep, narrow puncture wound she should. Her head is attached to her body by only a few inches of smoking flesh and beyond her, a large male lays squealing with a scorched, crescent shaped wound across the shoulder and spurting throat.

He takes a step forward and silences the beast with the claws of his left hand, and then turns his attention to the other. His eyes narrow; it is the hand that bears the shard of the shikon no tama. Kouga turns and slashes at the air with those claws, as if a foe was before him. Blue energy pulses from his palm, his fingertips, his claws, and speeds into the trees. It is the zaffre shade of his eyes, without the edge of ice; it bears a hint of electricity, but it is all his own power, pure _youki_ channeled through a shard of gem. A half dozen trees are cut through by it and crash to the forest floor; beyond them, the energy burns itself out and shatters ten or twelve others as it disperses.

Kouga flexes his fingers, and then throws his head back and laughs. The sound streaks out into the forest and sends everything that had resisted fleeing into burrows or into flight, but he only stands there, pleased and amused, and then bends to the secondary task of tending his kill. The sow has bled out into dirt from the gaping wound that was once a neck; he slits the throat of the male more deeply and then pulls the guts from both of them. A succulent bonus hides in the sow, a sextet of piglets, nearly full term and certainly out of season.

He dresses them all and then packs them into the mother's carcass. He washes his hands in a stream, and then takes up his kill, one wild boar on each shoulder. He runs slower with his burden, not because of the weight but because they ride precariously balanced while he moves. More villagers are up and about now, and they eye him warily and some with envy as he passes them by. It is with a feeling of great pride that he enters the old miko's hut, and something within him crows when he sees that Kagome is awake, and being tended by Kaede.

It pleases him immensely that his _shikon woman_ can see his prowess so admirably displayed, and he drops the two beasts with an audible thud beside the fire. Kaede eyes him, and Kagome too, but the old woman looks on only suspiciously, while Kagome's face is awed. Kouga preens, but only for a moment.

“Old woman, I'll need meat for myself and the girl, but only enough for a day or so. The rest you can keep; compensation, for what you've done for Kagome and the stuff I'll need to take care of her until she's healed.”

Kaede nods, her eyes wides, and then thinks of better of her manners and turns to bow in Kouga's direction.

“I thank you; this is far more than is required for compensation. I would have healed Kagome regardless, it is my duty.”

Kouga shrugs and sits back against the wall.

“As you like; but you'll keep it all the same, I can't carry those _and_ her – now, tell me what you're doing and what you've already done so I can take care of it tomorrow.”

“Of course; please, come nearer and I will explain.”

  
  



	10. Medicus Curat

Kagome sits wide-eyed and silent, listening to herself being discussed like a sack of flour. She is silent only because of the strangeness of this situation – because the old woman who is tending her looks like she came to life out of a history book – because it is daylight, and she is no longer half asleep, and she is still seeing a _youkai_. A _wolf_. Gleaming eyes and sharp fangs and tail lashing with impatience – a _wolf_.

She almost wishes she could faint again, just so she won't have to try to understand, but the _kami_ are not as accommodating as she would like. She is forced to be still, because Kaede's hands, skilled though they are, are working on the wound in her side that she would like to forget exists. She saw it in the first light of dawn, when the old woman unwrapped the bandage and poultice that had been put on the night before.

The flesh is clean and without sign of infection, and the bleeding is stopped – but it still is deeper into her body than Kagome desires to see _ever_ again. The wolf – Kouga, she reminds herself, Kouga – comes closer to her and peers down at what Kaede's hands are doing. He leans across her body to sniff at the herbs that Kaede is putting into the poultice, one by one, and his nose wrinkles. Kagome smiles despite herself; he might be youkai, but he's not threatening in the least and he's unmistakably handsome – cute even, especially with that crinkle in the bridge of his nose.

She contemplates where he wants to take her, and whether she should try not to go – but the old woman who is tending her is as unfamiliar as everything else. Her eyes fall on the pair of boar sitting by the fire; Kouga is _paying_ for her care, for her presence...

 _And where am I? Where? I can't – I can't possibly be where Kaede says I am_ -

The question had been the second thing out of her mouth this morning, when she had woken to the touch of Kaede's hand on her shoulder.

“ _I'm Kagome, Higurashi Kagome; I'm sorry, but could you tell me where I am?_ ”

“ _Why, this is the village of Edo, Kagome-san_ , _and I am the miko here; where have you come from?_ _How did you end up in Kouga's care?”_

She had been forced to shake her head, to claim amnesia; it isn't far from the truth, anyway. She is from Tokyo, but if this is Edo then Tokyo doesn't exist; Tokyo _is_ Edo, or what it became, anyway...and she has no better idea of how Kouga has come to be in _possession_ of her than the old woman does. She watches the hands moving at her side, two pairs as unlike each other as any two things that bear the same name can be – Kouga's youthful, slender, inhuman, glittering with deadly claws, Kaede's elderly, wrinkled, the veins blue and prominent, the nails blunt and human and clipped short.

Kaede's hands are steadier, more accustomed to this sort of work. Kouga's fingertips and claws brush Kagome's skin as he learns, and each touch sends trembles of ticklish heat streaking across her abdomen. By the time they are done, and Kouga knows what he needs to know, Kagome is holding her breath, trying not to laugh and mostly failing.

Kouga smiles at the sound; it pleases him that she is capable of such lightheartedness. It pleases him that she doesn't fear him; that she has no problem with his closeness – she is growing stranger all the time, for he has never seen a human woman who didn't run in fear from him before. Kagome trembles, but it isn't terror that moves her, or could; the first time he touches her it is an accident but after that he does it on purpose, breathing deeply a new warmth in her scent, listening to the pounding of her heartbeat as the rhythm grows rapid. Her cheeks are flush, and perhaps that is from the laughter she is holding back – only a few giggles escape – but perhaps...

Perhaps it is not?

While he listens to Kaede explain a last few instructions, his eyes turn up to meet Kagome's watchful gaze. His grin grows, and her smile widens to match it, and then her eyes flicker away, downward, uncomfortable, embarrassed – awkward. This time he knows the red on her cheeks is for him, and thinks to himself that there might be more for him in her than just a beautiful mystery; there might be the woman herself.

He returns his attention to Kaede, and takes the bundle she holds out to him – herbs, ointments, and clean bandages, all neatly wrapped.

“If you will wait just a little while, I will have some of the men carve these boars up and you may take what you wish for your journey.”

“Good. It's already later than I wanted to start, hurry them up, will you?”


	11. Quid? Quidni

Kaede held her tongue and passed behind him and out over the threshold. Kouga hears her voice outside, summoning help out of the village, and men come with her when she returns. There is a moment of stillness when they see her _guest_ , but only a moment. Kouga ignores them; he isn't interested in humans, just thisone, fascinating woman.

“Kouga-kun -”

He lifts his eyes to Kagome's face again as she speaks.

“Just call me Kouga, sweet Kagome; I want to be close to you, after all.”

_Closer than anyone else._

“I – alright, Kouga.”

The flush is back in her cheeks; he likes it there.

“Kouga, where are you taking me? Why are you taking me? I – I don't have any idea what's going on or how I got _here_ , so why do you want to take me somewhere else? I'm grateful, of course; I couldn't have paid Kaede for her help -”

“Don't worry about that; it's not like we don't need to eat too. Anyway, have you got anywhere better to go than with me, Kagome?”

She hesitates, rubs her hands together, flashes him a pained smile.

“Well no – not really – its not – its not that, but I've got no idea how I got here and I really should try to get home. My mother's going to be so worried – and my grandfather, and my little brother -”

She stops and swallows, takes a deep breath as she remembers.

“My little brother...Souta saw me get attacked; but I got pulled through the well and no one is going to believe him if he tells them what happened. There's not even a body...”

Kouga is curious now; she was pulled through a well?

“Where _are_ you from, Kagome? I won't lie, you're a lovely woman, but you're not dressed like you're from around here even if you speak excellent Japanese.”

“I – I don't know if I can explain. I'm from Tokyo, the capital of Japan, but -”

Kouga's laughter interrupted her words.

“What are you talking about, woman? I don't know much about humans but even _I_ know that Kyoto's the capital; has been for..oh, I don't know, maybe four hundred years.”

Kagome's eyes grow wide and she pales; she repeats him, stuttering, and doesn't understand.

“Kyoto – Kyoto's the – capital...”

And her mind processes, very slowly, the importance of the other detail he has transmitted. _Kyoto is the capital; has been for...oh, I don't know four hundred years._

Four hundred years.

Kyoto had been the capital of Japan for almost _eight_ hundred years, before Tokyo took its place. If it has only been _four_ hundred years...

“Kouga – Kouga, please can you – can you tell me the date? Can you tell me what year it is?”

He scowls and considers her question.

“Year? Ah....well...it's not Daiei anymore...is it? I don't think – Kyoraku...maybe? Or that one might be over too – it's the sixth year of something, I know that -”

Kagome grins despite the situation, despite the insecurity of her circumstances. Kouga reaches up one hand and ruffles his bangs above the fur of his headband.

“Sorry, Kagome, that's the best I can do – Ginta's the one who keeps track of that kind of stuff.”

“That kind of...the _year_ is a kind of _stuff_?”

He shrugs, chagrined.

“Well no, not really – but I assume you want a human date, yeah? Ginta keeps track of the human stuff we might need to know; he likes it, thinks humans are _interesting_.”

Kagome thinks, but though the era-names he's given her sound faintly familiar, history is not her best subject; still, she knows those aren't the names of any era since the Meiji.

“Kouga -”

He shrugs and smiles his apology, but she's not concerned with his lack of knowledge any more. The truth is close to her now; it weighs on her, and she feels suddenly lightheaded again, dizzy with possibility. She speaks in low tones.

“Kouga I think – that centipede-woman, I think she took me from the _future_.”

He stares at her with surprise but only for an instant; then he shrugs.

“I guess that explains the clothes; but I don't see how it changes anything, Kagome. The future or a far-off place, it doesn't matter, I haven't got a clue how to get you back to where you came from. The thing that grabbed you might have the power to travel in time, I don't.”

Kouga's fingers reach out and stroke her cheek, brush a stray lock of hair back away from her face.

“Sorry, Kagome.”

She sighs and shrugs.

“It's not your fault; I...I'll have to find some other way home than how I got here.”

“Until you do, you can stay with me. You can visit with my wolves; I'll show you Echigo and its forests, the wild mountains and the powers that sleep in them – you said you'd never seen a youkai? I'll show you the dens of beasts men have forgotten, magic enough to fuel your dreams forever.”

She stares at him; her pulse quickens to his words. In the future, her life is ordinary; school, family, friends...nothing will change when she gets back; _if_ she gets back. For now...for now, can't she just enjoy being part of something _more_? Something spectacular; something magical; something unbelievable that's just her own.

Kouga sees that he's almost won her; the _yes_ he wants is right there, on the tip of her tongue -

“So what about it, Kagome?”

His blue eyes glitter at her intensely; her heart jumps and thuds in her chest.

“Will you come with me?”

She hesitates only a moment more, and then nods.

“I...yes. Why not?”

His smile outshines the sun.

  
  



	12. In Via

Well provided by Kaede with things that Kouga knows they will need and things he does not, he makes his way out of the village with Kagome in his arms and a heavy frame strapped to his back. He has no interest in lingering here now that he has everything he needs, but he is leaving his armor here and he wants to be able to come back and retrieve it. It is not his first choice of options, but he can't carry Kagome with it on and the bulk of it is too much to carry along with everything else. At the edge of the village he looks down at the woman in his arms, wrapped comfortably in fur against the chill of the autumn wind and pressed against his chest, and grins a bit of grin with gleam in it, but not enough to frighten her.

“Hey Kagome, d'ya want to have a bit of a fun?”

“ _Fun_?”

She eyes him suspiciously but his amusement is infectious.

“What _kind_ of fun?”

“ _Speed_. I've got a test to make; let's see how fast I can go, Kagome!”

She smiles but she has no idea what she's in for – and in the same moment as her nod Kouga is off like an arrow from a bow and gaining greater speed all the time. A whirlwind of ruptured air and dust sucked off the ground follows at his heels. She gasps with laughter, and then with delight; she has never felt safer than in this moment, and yet she knows she is moving faster than any movement she has seen in her own future.

After several minutes he slackens his pace and the wind dies behind them, becomes a stinging touch on her cheeks. Green landscape falls away around her, and the rolling hills of Japan's interior, leading up toward the slopes of the central mountains. Kouga speaks to her now and then, pointing out things that she misses on their way across the countryside; faster than a train he is running, and yet not out of breath. His voice is louder than usual only by a bit, because he wants her to hear him over the wind, and she turns her eyes wherever he indicates.

“There – quick! Three bears, must be a mother and her cubs.”

She saw flashes of brown fur, mouths opening wide to yawn, pink tongues lolling -

“Look, those trees – the red ones? They're always red – bloodstained, they say.”

“Are they _really_?”

His eyebrows shrug; beneath them his glance gains mischief that she finds compelling.

“Maybe – but there! A whole sounder of boar, but those aren't the onesIhunted for you.”

She grins at his boasting and sees the streaming dark bodies just as they vanish into the undergrowth. The pride in his voice is cute – sweet even, because it _was_ for her, but his eyes are darker blue than she remembers when he looks down at her and the _feeling_ in them -

“Do you hear water, Kagome?”

He comes to a sudden stop; the silence is startling after the rush of the wind in her ears and on her face, and at first she can hear nothing but the rush of her own blood in her veins. Slowly, as she concentrates, a faint, distant sound makes itself known to her. The rush of a river; the spill of an enormous waterfall, to be heard by her at such a distance.

“I hear it...”

Her eyes scan the land around them, but there's nothing; she can't see what she can hear.

“That's home; near the river, and the falls – deep in the mountains. You won't see it now, even I can't – but look _up_ , Kagome, look up! That's home – there, all that you can see and all that you can't.”

Mist burns off the land and rises in a haze that sets the Echigo mountains floating baseless in the sky. Their slopes are rich with thick greenery; she wants to be among them, walking those untouched forests, breathing the cleanliness of this air. Homesickness doesn't occur to her; her first sight of Kouga's _home_ is magic; wonder; breathless mystery; excitement.

He tastes all these things in the flood of her scent – truths she couldn't hide from him even if she wanted to. The feeling that has been building since he first tasted her power in the distance grows greater within him.

The purity of her smile and her scent entice him, and the strength of her will and her personality impel. He recognizes his desire, standing on the green plateaus below his mountains – more than desire, or a desire for more than flesh.

_Kagome. My woman, my shikon woman._

He says nothing to her yet; he is eager, almost too eager, but she is strange and confused and his nature is new enough to her as it is. He doesn't want to frighten her off – anything but that. He wants her to stay; he thinks he wants her to stay forever.

_My woman._

Kouga has only a moment to come to terms with the richness of his feelings; he hears her stomach growl, scents her embarrassment, her blush – she's utterly distracting, even from thoughts of herself. He leans down so that they are almost eye to eye, and Kagome is breathless with the closeness of him; she must lick her lips and swallow before she can answer him when he speaks.

“Shall we stop, Kagome? Your body is making hungry noises.”

“I – I would – I would like to, if you don't mind -”

“Why would I mind? It's my job to take care of you, remember? I learned how to heal you from that old woman, and I hunted for you so that you could eat – you've got to tell me what you want, though, I haven't got much experience with humans.”

He grins and leans back from her and then sets her down on the green. The grass is soft here, and the view is gorgeous; Echigo opens before them wide and misted and dark with forest. The pack that the old miko gave him gives up its contents, and Kouga moves herbs and ointments and clean bandages out of the way to get to the tightly wrapped package he can smell at the bottom.

It comes undone with a swift slice of claws – he's too impatient for knots – and Kouga takes one of the slabs of boar for himself, tears a mouthful of flesh from it and then holds out another chunk for Kagome.

“'Ere, 'ab un 'a-ome -”

Juices drip from the slab of boar he holds out toward her. The raw flesh glistens in the sunlight, and Kagome stares at it, reaches out and takes it from him and holds it between two fingers. She raises her eyes to his face. Kouga sees confusion, amusement, and faint nausea mingle there for a moment, and then she shakes her head firmly.

“Kouga I can't eat that!”

“'S goo', 'y no'?”

“....It's _raw_.”

Kouga gulps his mouthful and then shrugs at her before he tears off another.

“So? It's best that way, isn't it?”

She sighs, and rubs her unoccupied palm against her forehead, over her eyes.

“You really _don't_ know anything about humans! Raw meat will make me sick -”

He reaches out with an alarmed look on his face and snatches the meat back from her hand. Kagome stares at him and then snorts.

“If I _eat_ it, Kouga! If I _eat_ it, not if I _touch_ it -”

He eyes the bit of boar suspiciously before he hands it back to her, and Kagome shakes her head and tries to control uncontrollable giggles – they hurt.

~~~~

A/N: Translations of Kouga's 'full-mouth speak': “Here, have one Kagome!” and “It's good, why not?” just in case that was completely unintelligible!


	13. Lupi Mulieris

The matter of cooking causes some consternation for Kouga, who has never cooked a thing in his life and has no idea how to go about doing so. He carries nothing on him for the making of fire, and though he and Kagome both know it's possible to get a flame from rubbing sticks together neither one is sure how to do it.

In the end he uses a flash of _youki_ from his right hand to light a bunch of sticks. Kagome sits back with a startled expression when the energy surges from him; she reaches out and touches his palm when it has faded and the fire is lit, and to Kouga's surprise she touches the point at the center where the shikon shard lies buried. It disturbs him; does she know it's there?

As soon as the thought occurs to him he accepts it; how could it be otherwise? There are shards of the shikon no tama inside her, far more than the single one he carries – and she is miko, too. She can see his _youki_ – she was aware of him, of his _presence_ , before she knew what it was she was aware of.

He folds his fingers over her hand and lifts it to his lips, kisses the back of her hand, the inside of her wrist; he does it absently, without thinking, distracted by his own thoughts. He licks the pulse point of Kagome's wrist and then lays her hand in her lap and stands, paces on the other side of the fire. He is aware of her pounding heartbeat, her embarrassment, her confusion as she puts her meat on to cook – but he doesn't concern himself with them. Not until she speaks does he turn to her, his nose wrinkled; the smell of boar cooking is burnt flesh to him, not appetizing, but she is breathing the aroma with a greedy flicker in her eyes and a good deal of impatience on her face.

“Kouga, your pack – what are they like? You mentioned a...um...Ginta?”

He grins.

“Yeah, I did. He's my beta – but his brother Hakkaku is, too. They're never apart, always together – even mated the same female. They share _everything_.”

Kagome's eyes widen.

“Really? They have the same mate? That's like...that's like a wife, right?”

Kouga shakes his head.

“No. Well – yes, but no. A wolf's mate is his life; humans aren't like that when they bond.”

Kagome thinks about the thousand marriages she's heard of - famous and personal, strangers and close friends' parents - that have dissolved.

“I...guess that's true. Wolves are lucky, then.”

She smiles, and there is something yearning in it; what he's talking about is the deepest, most enchanting promise of storybook romance.

All he sees is the yearning; it sets his blood on fire.

“So...Ginta's the one who knows about humans – what about Hakkaku, then? And are there more wolves in your pack?”

Kouga nods and comes back to sit beside her.

“Hakkaku keeps track of other youkai; the wolf packs in the north and south, and the great council of elders...but those are youkai secrets.”

His voice teases her; his fingers reach out to her hair, stroke the smoothness of it, run through the length of it; compulsive movements, unconscious, as if he were her brother, or a lover – and she notices, and does not complain even though it is strange to her. _Wolfishness_ , she thinks – and what right has she to tell him not to be who he is, what he is? Youkai he might be, but he doesn't act like terror from an ancient story or the horror that dragged her out of the future and into _this_.

_Besides, it feels nice._

“There're wolf secrets too, Kagome. You'll have to earn them, little by little; you'll have to be one of us before you can know what we know. And there's lots more wolves in my pack than just _those_ two idiots – maybe sixty of us, if you count all the pups.”

She grins, leans toward him and then back again sharply as she feels pain.

“Kagome? Kagome -”

She waves a hand at him and breathes shallow breaths until the twinge has passed.

“Don't worry, I just keep forgetting I can't really move much – ah! And my meat is burning!”

Kagome reaches hurriedly but carefully with a clean bit of twig and flips her piece of boar, considering her companion all the while. She looks at him out of the corner of her eye; his forehead still bears wrinkles of concern and she can't help but smile.

She thinks he is still concerned for her, and he is, but not in the way she is thinking. When she stretched, when she felt pain, the scent of her blood accosted him. It is the sweetest thing he has ever scented; the fragrance itself is not the trouble, just the urges it ignites. He has his own ideas of things he would like to do to her, but that odor will be dangerous near his pack though he has no choice but to bring her among them if he wants to keep her – and he does _so_ want to keep her.

He must make it known to them that she is his, his to keep, his to touch, his to protect – but words are not enough to make that clear to all his wolves. Some are pups, merely beasts, not true youkai – as all pups are before their hundredth year.

“Kagome -”

She is eating when he turns to look at her, holding her bit of boar speared on the twig she had used to flip it and taking small bites from the edges. Hunger is all the sauce she needs, and he is amused by her neatness and the flashing of her blunt teeth as she snaps at it, almost like a wolf herself.

“Kagome I'm not sure how to ask you what I've got to ask you, so I'm just going to say it, all right?”

She blinks at him, and swallows, and then nods.

“I need to mark you, Kagome. So that the pack knows you're mine and off limits for -”

He winces a bit and looks away from her.

_Something that's going to have to change._

“...Off limits for eating.”

Kouga peers at her with his head turned, barely opening one eye, but the explosion he is anticipating doesn't materialize.

“Oh. Well that's alright then – you don't have to..um... _pee_ on me or anything, though, do you?”

Consent? No explosion? A _joke_? She doesn't mind being his – being marked by a wolf? Everything possessive within him, urge and instinct, rises to the surface, shouting, and he moves forward and kneels at her feet and shakes his head.

“No, Kagome, I'm not going to _pee_ on you. Silly woman – just stay still. This is going to be hard enough as it is with that wound there, so no squirming.”

She nods, bemused, and then he is leaning forward over her, his body a hovering heat above her skin; she feels the softness of his tail moving back and forth against the back of her left hand, rustling the grass beside it, tickling her thigh – but then she can barely breathe and her thoughts are frozen.

Kouga's cheek rubs against her cheek; his breathing is deep, calm, almost drowsy in its rhythm, but Kagome can feel her heart pounding again, her lips trembling; is _this_ what he meant about marking her? He turns his head and rubs against her other cheek – against her jaw – beneath her chin – against her throat. It's like a kiss, but not – still incredibly intimate. He leans back just a little, and reaches for her left hand, and stays on his knees, straddling her legs, while he rubs his cheek against her fingers, the palm and back of her hand, her wrist -

“Kouga – _Kouga_ -”

Her voice flutters in her throat, comes out faint and breathless, but Kouga doesn't stop; he is intent now, and nearly drugged with sweetness.

“I'm not hurting you, am I?”

“ _No_ -”

“Good.”

* * *

A/N: What _is_ Kouga doing? Why scent-marking of course; wolves have scent glands in their cheeks below their eyes, as well as at the top of their tail – but really, can you see Kouga rubbing his butt all over Kagome? I know, I can too, and it's hilarious!   


	14. Cadent, Proruere

Kouga holds Kagome still, his hands on her waist just below where she was wounded, and leans down to rub his cheeks against her chest, her breasts, her belly. Strange scents are in the fabric, the same tainted odors of strange smoke that cling to her skin and hair, but his own scent comforts him, so close to hers. Before he knows what he's doing his arms are around her; he feels her tense in surprise, and then her hands reaching down to rest on his shoulders, to stroke the length of his bound hair.

“How long will it take, Kouga? Before you're done?”

She is trying to be _business-like_ about this, but it's hard with his face pressed against her; his voice comes out muffled and she feels his breath against her skin.

 _Heat_.

“Not nearly long enough.”

She blushes, but then they are laughing together, and still -

Neither of them move.

It seems like a long while later when he sits up and then moves back so that he can sit and lay her legs across his lap. He lifts them one at a time; the bare skin is enticing, terribly enticing, and yet she is modest, virginal, pure – _innocent_. The scent of her skin is the scent of the morning and this time he is sure he _is_ drugged, when he rubs his cheek against that pale skin, holds her slender, squirming ankle in one hand – Kagome trembles when he moves past her knee, his eyes blazing blue now beneath half-lowered lids, his breath slow – deep – somnolent.

The skin of her thigh is smooth as silk. All he can sent from her is arousal and anxiety, because she knows that having gone this far she must sit through it again – and does, does, even though by the time he is finished her fingernails are dark with dirt and her fists are full of grass.

Kouga is pleased beyond belief; _she wants him_ – even if she doesn't know what she wants. Such an innocent; so powerful to be so naïve, this Kagome...but then perhaps her future is a softer place.

He has no idea. Everything she's seen since the moment she arrived in the past, not even knowing it was the past, has been one shock after another. She can only accept, not analyze; not yet.

He lays drowsing in Kagome's lap for long minutes after he is through _marking_ her; his scent is all over her now, a promise of pain to any who seek to harm her, ownership in the clearest youkai terms. That she has allowed him to declare possession of her was pleasing enough on its own; that she seems to mean it, that she wants him is.... _ecstasy._

_I wonder how long she'll let me lie here..._

Her fingers play with his hair; her eyes are on the horizon and the view of the mountains as the mist moves back and forth across the afternoon landscape. Eventually, she speaks, and Kouga lifts his head from her lap and sits back.

“Kouga, why did you have to do that – um – marking...thing?”

“My pack.”

“Ah...you said that before, but...is there an option for a longer answer?”

He eyes her for a moment and then turns away to look at the horizon. How to explain? How not to frighten her away?

“You're mine now, as far as my pack knows, because my scent is on you and that claims you so that even the least among them can understand. Otherwise – otherwise you'd be in danger. Did you think I was joking – what I said before? My wolves – they're man-eaters – they're dangerous to you, Kagome.”

She doesn't hear the husky softness of her own voice when she answers him.

“I didn't think you were joking, Kouga – but you've taken care of me and from the moment I saw you I trusted you; I don't know why. You've been helping me – I don't know what I'd be doing if it weren't for you. Having hysterics, probably.”

He grins.

“What else was I going to do? You weren't what I expected to find when I went running toward that light, but once I saw you I couldn't leave you. I couldn't let you die.”

“Or let your wolves eat me?”

She is teasing, but a dangerous hunger that has _nothing_ of the stomach in it flies dark-winged across his face.

“ _Never_. No matter what, I'd keep you for myself.”

He leans forward and rubs his cheek against her cheek again; her flush is just as quick as the first time, but this time she rubs back against him. He smiles, but the wind changes then, and comes to him from the north. With it comes terrible odors – blood; carnage; chaos; death. Strange youkai – _not pack_. Not even wolves – strangers. Marauders; murderers.

She sees his face change but has no awareness of the cause; he sits suddenly stiff, nostrils flaring, thoughts racing.

He feels a sudden convulsion of guilt that he has been off chasing this woman, however precious, while his pack has been in danger – and then he scoops up Kagome and the bag of medicines and is running, running faster than he's ever run in his life.

_Ginta._

_Hakkaku._

_You two – better be all right -_


	15. Dux Bellorum

Down into the valley and then up through the reaching branches of the mountains slopes and its heavy, dark forest Kouga runs. Kagome sees frantic worry on his face, feels his body straining forward – why? Something changed between one moment and the next but she feels his fear like a living thing and does not dare to question it.

His speed doesn't slacken as he runs up the slopes of the mountains; by some secret pass Kouga comes down into a secret valley, and now the sound of the waterfall he had stopped to let her hear is a flowing thunder – she sees a pool churned white by the falls and the falls themselves, enormous and glittering with rainbows in the afternoon light. Water pours in bubbling cataracts over the rocks beyond the pool and down into a long, loud stream; beautiful -

And then water turns red, and she hears screams; battle sounds – roars, howls, the gnashing of teeth and the wet spatter of blood heavy beneath the waterfall's spray. Wolves. Wolves everywhere, leaping up around Kouga's legs, sniffing at her and back away and leaping forward again. Wolves on the rocks, behind the falls, at the top of the cliff and in a great cavern at the very edge of the trees beside by the falls.

Four wolves hold a nightmare at bay. Two of them are half the size of the others, and the two larger wolves are twenty times the size of any wolf she's ever seen in her life. It is an Oni that confronts them, a stinking, hulking creature with the face of a boar and the body of a hairy giant. Between the feet of the howling wolves and the Oni are the dead bodies of a dozen lesser beasts – serpents, rodents, _things_.

Kagome shivers with terror in Kouga's grasp. Only a moment has passed while her eyes take in all of these things; in that moment, Kouga has already made a decision. He has seen more detail than she – he knows those wolves, the black and silver and grey-furred Ginta, Hakkaku white as snow – and their mate beside them, black Shiori, and her twin brother Takeo. He sees that the female has a tiny body behind her, the littlest of her pups, Hakkaku's Sho. He sees the red that streaks Hakkaku's body, he sees the desperate posture of his wolves – he sees the violence contained but he also sees their weariness.

“Kagome, my wolves will protect you. You said you trusted me – you've got to trust me now -”

“Go – _go_!”

He sets her down on the ground gently, and speaks a throbbing growl that summoned the leaping bodies of a score of wolves to crowd around her, pressing at her sides, her legs, sniffing her body, her hair, licking her fingers, staring into her blue eyes.

Then he is leaping away from her, and Kagome's eyes followed Kouga across the space before the wolves' open den. He is a whirlwind; speed; the rush of him is glory and sets her heart pounding in her chest. He stops before the fighting wolves, between them and the threat that menaces, and she can't help but be afraid then – he looks so small, so _tiny_ between the massive shapes of his packmates behind him and the looming wrath of the Oni before.

Then there is wind. Light. _Power_. It engulfs her, flashes across the mountains like a concussive wave, shatters her being with raw energy, with strength, with – _Kouga_. Senses she has never used before are speaking to her, whispering at her, singing to her. She knows now why the old woman said she was miko; she identifies the gift springing free within her and her awareness of Kouga's _youki_ , and knows that it is true.

She is miko, and he is youkai, and now he is the Wolf – enormous – gorgeous – a screaming presence within her and the most beautiful beast she has ever seen, released before her gaze. He looks back at her for one instant, and the blue of his eyes meets her glance.

He turns back to the Oni and he _howls_ – no mortal wolf's howl is like it. Beside that sound the full cry of his pack answering their alpha is a whisper in the wind. Kagome shudders at the intensity of it and stares and feels heat melting within her, and even when the sound is gone the echo remains, lapping at her soul.

She does not look away; not when he leaps forward; not when the Oni's great club shatters into sparks and dust across his back – not when his teeth meet in its throat and rip out the beating life in a spray of red.

This is the mystery and the magic and the raw world that Kouga has promised her. She will not look away from it – she will not hide from it -

And then the Oni is dead and the great wolf pads over to stand before her, and lowers his bloody muzzle to look at her. She reaches out and pets his nose gingerly between the bloodstains.

“Well done, Kouga -”

The great jaws part in a panting wolfish grin, and then she is _inside the light_ , inside the change – it is the same as before but a thousand times stronger because he is _right there beside her_ and the essence of him is raw and pure as a star.


	16. Dulce, Utile

Kagome is the one who is panting by the time Kouga returns to his more human shape. He has a satisfied look on his face, and also a great deal of blood, but the first thing he does – besides grin at her – is walk to the stream and bend to wash the blood from his face and hands. Human that sight, though she knows he isn't; reassuring, because the sight grows more disturbing the longer she looks at it – he was a wolf then. She can accept the beast – but he has the heartbreaking face of a beautiful man now and that juxtaposition is too much for her all at once.

There's an outbreak of growling – some of the wolves are tearing at the Oni's body now, and at the flesh of the fallen youkai. Kouga comes back to Kagome wiping his face on his headband, and she snickers at the sight of him – without the headband his bangs fall completely over his eyes. He ties it back and scowls at her, but the expression falls apart into a smile almost at once, and he wades through wolves to her side, reaches down and lifts her up into his arms again.

He has a compulsion to check her for new injuries though he knows there was no way she could've been hurt – he holds back only because there are other problems, and he doesn't have time to be distracted. He takes woman and pack and leaps up light to the den entrance; wolves crowd around them, black and brown, gray and white, many of them the size of normal wolves or only a little larger and none the size of Kouga's enormous shape.

Kagome sees a few in human shapes like Kouga's; they're all dressed in fur, and many have odd patterns and striations in her hair that remind her of the soft bristling patterns in a wolf's coat. Kouga greets some of them in a low voice, but his attention is ahead of them, at the edge of a ledge looking out across the bubbling pool beneath the waterfall.

The littlest of wolves is laying still and unmoving. Three human-shaped wolves are hovering over the little one – a black wolf howls in the background, and butts at the females legs with the top of his head. She look up when Kouga stops beside her, and though her eyes linger on Kagome, she is quick to approach with pleading eyes.

“Kouga – Kouga it's _Sho_ , it's Sho – is there something -”

Kouga shook his head slowly, and the female's shoulder's collapsed. The two males behind her approach together, and in their palm of their hands hold out a twin set of pouches. Kagome's eyes are rather wide in contemplation of the tall white mohawk one of them is sporting.

“Those are the shards, Ginta?”

The wolf on the left nods, and Kagome looks at him – Ginta, the one who knows about humans.

“Hakkaku, I'm sorry about Sho -”

“He might – he might be all right. We'll just have to wait – he just looks so broken -”

Kouga looks down at Kagome and addresses her seriously.

“Can you stand? Will it hurt you to walk?”

She shakes her head, and Kouga puts her down on her feet. There's a twinge of pain she wasn't expecting, and she isn't very steady at first but it only takes a moment. She stands with her hand pressed against her side and then feels suddenly very much the outsider.

Wolves rush forward from every corner to greet Kouga – wolf shaped and human, many of them to press near him, to rub their heads under his hands, to lick at his fingers, to butt his legs. She smiles, and wanders away a bit. It is harder than she thought it would be – walking – and she stops, wincing, at the edge of the cavern where the view looks down over the water.

“Be careful, human woman!”

There are tears in the sharp female voice that upbraids Kagome, and she looks down and sees that she is a few feet away from the wolf pup that is causing so much distress. Carefully, very carefully, Kagome eases herself down onto her knees and then looks up at the female across from her. The pups mother, she thinks, and reaches out gentle fingers to stroke the pup's white forehead.

“Is there something I can do to help?”

“Can you save him, woman? What do you know of youkai!”

The female's hackles are raised – this stranger is _touching her pup_ – only the fact that Kagome bears the scent of Kouga like a cloak protects her. Yet Kagome feels only compassion, only pain when she looks at the little body, whens he thinks about the terrible things that have befallen him, and so young – _Sho_ , the female said his name was.

“I'm sorry. I don't know anything – I just would like to help him, if I could -”

“Help him to his grave, miko? I can smell the power in you -”

“No! No – a baby like him? Such a baby – he should live. He should _live_ – I'm sorry – I'm sorry – I wish I could help him – I wish – I wish -”

Pink light. _Soft_. Flowing. It leaches brightness from her fingertips and spreads it across the pup's pale fur – over his muzzle, the faint rise and fall of his little chest – nose to tailtip, it covers him.

“Kouga?”

Kagome's voice is very nearly an interrupting squeak and not a word – but he doesn't need the word to know something is happening. The scent of power – the scent that is Kagome and shikon no tama is _everywhere_ , and he turns just in time to see the growing glow become a flood of light.

He sees fear on her face. He wonders for a single instant exactly how much she doesn't know, and then light slaps him like a wave of water, leaves him dizzy with fragrance, with softness, with desire and longing and promise.

All around him wolves are falling lightheaded to their knees; he sees Shiori flat on her back through a crystal haze of lavender light, and Sho and Kagome at the center of it. Where she touches the pup the light is so bright as to be blinding, and Kouga closes watering eyes, and turns away -

Through his eyelids he senses when the light is gone, and he hears a wonderful sound at the same instant. It is Sho's bark, impatient and playful, and Kouga opens his eyes and sees the pup lapping at his mother's face, and Shiori just coming round.

He looks for Kagome and sees her sprawled on the ground. Her hair is dark as midnight now, all the lavender gleam faded from it as if sucked out by the light. He doesn't care – he holds her against his body and lets out a sigh of relief when her eyes flicker open and look up at him.  


	17. Veritas Diaboli

“Kouga? I – something happened -”

“Yes! Yes, you amazing woman – why didn't you say you had power like that?”

“Power – I – what?”

“ _Look_ Kagome – don't you know anything of what you can do; what you have done! Look at Sho!”

She turns her head and sees the leaping happiness of Sho and Shiori's face crinkled and restraining tears – there are other pups around her now, bigger than Sho but not by much, and Kagome smiles and then presses her face against Kouga's chest.

“Good – I'm so glad – oh I'm so glad. I was afraid something _terrible_ was happening.”

Kouga stands and brings Kagome up into his arms again; he squeezes her tightly, and then loosens his grip so abruptly when she makes a noise of pain that she clutches at him, afraid he's going to let her go.

“Sorry, Kagome – I'm just so happy I found you.”

“I -”

She almost keeps the words back, but then –

“I'm happy you found me, too.”

She tilts her head up toward his ear as if to confide a secret.

“You're much better company than Kaede -”

He turns his head her way and they are a breath apart.

“Is that so?”

“Yes -”

He presses his lips against her mouth and silences her with warmth – heat – the barest flicker, the most teasing promise of tongue. She has never been kissed until now, but Kouga's kiss is everything she was ever told a kiss should be and more. She lets out a stunned breath when he pulls back from her. The world is blue eyes and brightness; the sound of the waterfall – the scent of the green, growing wood.

Then she flushes the brightest red Kouga has yet seen, and turns away.

He doesn't mind; the only way she can escape his gaze is to press her face against his chest.

“Come on, Kagome. Let's go inside – I'll show you the den, and then you can rest.”

“But -”

“The old woman told me you were to move around _as little as was necessary_. Don't think you'll get out of it -”

Her huff of breath puffs against his chest, and he grins.

“You'll be entertained enough – the pups are sure to drive you crazy, and I'll be with you. There's stories to tell, and hunts to be had, and Ginta will talk your ear off about the human world if you let him.”

She pull back from him and look up at his face again.

“And I can't move?”

“Well – not much. And no leaving the den until that wound is healed. I didn't know humans were so fragile. Anyway, Sho was much worse off than you are, why can't you just heal that wound yourself?”

Kagome shakes her head and reaches her fingers down to her bandaged side.

“I – I don't know. I don't know what I did to help Sho.”

Kouga brings her deep into the great cavern by the waterfall, and then up along a ledge and into a tunnel that cut through the mountain and comes out over a giant ravine. A river winds distant and glittering below them; a rocky cliff that leads up and up to a snow-capped peak rises on the other side of the river.

“We'll go back in a second – I just wanted you to see the back door.”

“Back...door?”

Kagome stares at the sheer drop a thousand feet into the ravine, and huddles closer to Kouga.

“I think I prefer the front.”

He grins.

“I thought you'd say that – but in an emergency, don't go down, go _up_. There's stairs.”

He gestures with his shoulder to the right, and she sees them – narrow, dangerous, some of them cracking – she thinks it will be quite an emergency indeed before she _dares_ climb those stairs. Kouga turns back inside then and brings her along a side passage that dead-ends into a wide chamber after fifteen or twenty meters. Light comes in from narrow shafts along the western wall and cracks and chinks in the roof. The floor and various ledges are plush with furs, and Kouga crosses to the widest and most thoroughly covered of the low ledges and lays Kagome down.

She winces, and sighs, and Kouga scents blood from her again, but she is distracted looking at her hair, and holds it up for him to see.

“Back to normal – I'm glad, I bet I looked _weird_ with purple hair -”

“It wasn't so bad, but I like you better this way. You look...more like yourself.”

She wrinkles her nose at him.

“You barely know me!”

“Doesn't matter – when I found you, your hair was black, you know. It wasn't until I tried to pull one of the shikon shards out of your back that it changed color. Not until all the shards were inside you -”

In an instant, Kagome recoils, begins to peer at her skin – her legs, her arms, the backs of her hands. She sees the faint scars, variously shaped and spread across her skin in odd places – there are far more of them on her right side than her left.

“Inside me? Shards of – what? What are you talking about, Kouga?”

He blinks at her.

“I thought you knew -”

“Knew?”

“About the shikon no tama. It was the reason I came; the reason I found you. It shattered – I didn't know that at first – I just saw the light from it, and wanted to see what it was. I thought there'd be some battle...something. Instead there was a _someone_ – you – and hundreds of pieces of shikon no tama.”


	18. Brutum Fulmen

Kagome stares at Kouga for a long moment.

“There was no one else there?

“No one.”

“No one? Not a youkai – a centipede-woman -”

“No one, Kagome. Just you. And the shards – look, Kagome. I thought you could see it before; in my palm...”

Kouga holds out his right hand for her to expect, and Kagome hitches herself forward across the furs and reaches out her fingers to touch his hand – _there_. In the center of his palm, beneath the flesh; a glow, velvety purple, and within it a pulse of power as familiar as her heartbeat though she has never seen such a thing before.

Awareness flashes across her mind in an instant.

_The thing that was torn from her._

The terrible pain.

The shikon no tama had come from inside her – _inside her -_

“ _It was inside me -_ ”

It is barely a whisper but Kouga hears it and steps forward. If she is speaking the truth – but why wouldn't she?

“Kagome – Kagome are you saying that the wound in your side is because the shikon no tama was _inside your body_?”

She turns her eyes to his face and nods slowly.

“I – and you're a miko. Of course. I can't even guess how that happened, but now at least it makes sense that the shards want their way and won't be taken from you.”

He stares at her for a long moment and then reaches for the bag that had come from Kaede.

“Lean back, Kagome. I've got to change that bandage; there's pack business for me to tend to and the rest need to know that you're not to be troubled, and you look tired – by the time I come back you'll be asleep, and I don't want to wake you.”

“You make a good nurse, Kouga.”

She giggles faintly at his lifted eyebrows and hitches herself carefully closer to him, pulls her shirt over her head and flushes as she sits with her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes fixed on the rock wall above his head.

“I'll have to find you some clothes – your shirt's a mess, Kagome.”

She looks at the torn and bloodstained fabric and almost shrugs, but thinks better of it. His fingers are delicate and swift pulling away the old bandage from her wound, but the last layer of wrapping still stings and tugs at the raw, delicate flesh.

“I – thank you, Kouga.”

“I would've done as much before, but you saved Sho, Kagome. I bet Shiori'll give you something of hers as soon as I mention you haven't got anything with you -”

“Shiori? Is she the female that was with Sho? I thought she was his mother -”

“Yeah, that's her. She's the one I told you about, the one who's mated to Ginta and Hakkaku both. Sho is Hakkaku's pup.”

Kagome grins, glad of something to distract her from whatever he is doing to her side.

“I could tell; tell me, do all wolves have hair that looks like their pelt in the wolf-shape?”

He nods; she smells strong herbs and then feels his arms circling her with clean linen.

“Pretty much; sometimes there's differences -”

“Your fur isn't just black.”

His tail swishes at her.

“Of course not.”

She pets the soft fur thoughtfully and doesn't notice that she's bared herself to him; it doesn't seem to matter as much, after he's rubbed his scent on her so intimately – after he's kissed her – and besides, her bra is intact, and it's not like she's naked...

His eyes lick up her skin, her comfortable movements. He leans close to her and then hesitates and pulls back before she notices. Hadn't he told himself he'd be slow – gentle – give her only a little at a time? He shouldn't have kissed her but he couldn't help himself.

 _I'll do better_.

He climbs off the ledge and pulls up the softest furs to cover her.

“I'm going to find you some clothes, they'll be here when you wake – and remember, you'll be safe here, no one will bother you.”

She smiles at him, and then yawns behind her hand.

“Thank you, Kouga – I think I might nap some after all. Do all your guests get treatment like this? Luxurious furs, enormous rooms -”

His bark of laughter comes back at her over his shoulder and he pauses at the threshold.

“Not even close, Kagome. This is _my_ room – oh, and don't mind the pups if they come in to snuggle; they're harmless – that's why I marked you, after all.”

His fangs flash at her in the dimness, and then he is gone.   


	19. Illa Cantat

By the time Kouga returns, his arms full of fur clothes, Kagome is fast asleep; her brow is crinkled with worries, but her eyes move dreaming beneath her lids. He stares down at her for a long minute, contemplates what he has learned about the mystery that first brought him to her...contemplates what he has _not_ learned, the questions that still need answering and the further questions that have sprung up out of nowhere.

Kouga leaves the clothes by her side and turns to leave. He doesn't have time yet to sit and indulge himself with just the sight of her, with being close to her – that he _wants_ to do this, he can neither deny nor understand.

“Kagome, all woman...all mystery, all madness...all mine.”

He turns back to her despite himself, brushes a lock of hair away from her face and then bends to rub his cheek against her cheek.

“Mmm...mrrrr...”

Her faint noises amuse him, but he forces himself away from her and back out into the den. The elders are waiting for him, and Ginta and Hakkaku too; Kouga might be Alpha, but that is not to say that he is without council or other considerations beyond his own will. There is the safety of the pack to be considered, a safety that seems to be already at risk. There are strong warriors among them, but the last fifty years has seen an explosion of their numbers. This is a wonderful thing but also a source of worry; the dozens of pups are only wolves, will _be_ only wolves until they reach their hundredth year...and without the power to fight, without anything but wolfish instinct to guide them, they are always in danger, always at risk...

Still, he _is_ Alpha. The final say is his – always. Pack Law says so; the Law that rules even the Alpha, the Law that brings wolves into accord with each other, the law that speaks of more than blood and death and violence as the _price_ of such a will as Kouga's. He is ready to defend his choices, his decision, his curiosity, especially in the face of what Kagome has done for Sho.

Hakkaku is waiting for him outside the council chamber, one hand ruffling the white height of his hair nervously, the other tossing a pair of little bags up and down. In the same moment he appears, Kouga snatches the bags out of the air in the middle of Hakkaku's toss.

“Hey! – oh, Kouga-sama, Ginta gave me the ones he had and -”

“Thanks, Hakkaku. Where _is_ he?”

“Inside already; the Council's got their hackles up about waiting.”

“Oh _do_ they?”

Kouga wore an expression of sudden smugness; his tail lashed back and forth, but lazily; his shoulders set themselves and a prickle of _youki_ grew around him, blue, icy, intense. He attaches the two little bags full of shards to his belt; Hakkaku grins, and then wheels around and takes up his usual spot on Kouga's right-hand side.

“Ready?”

“Might as well get it over with; open the door, Hakkaku.”

It is the only door in the whole den; old, dark wood with a gleaming handle of gold. It creaks open under Hakkaku's hand, and Kouga steps forward into the center of the room. Eyes, gleaming eyes – that is the first thing he sees, amber eyes, brown eyes, blue eyes and green – wolf eyes, and _wolf_ eyes. The whole pack has come, each one comfortable on one of the thousand little ledges that jut out from the raw stone of the walls.

Before him, four great, grey-furred wolves lay watching him; a fifth beside them appears to be sleeping, but Kouga knows better than that. His greeting is short and to the point; his presence swells among his wolves and scores of greetings, _welcome, welcome_ , echo back at him from the walls.

“Daisuke, Fumio, Eiji, Izumi – and you too, Kameko, I know you aren't asleep – I've brought wonderful things back from my little journey.”

Daisuke shakes out his great ruff, stretches his forepaws forward. His voice is a rumble, woven with a hundred layers of growl: the voice of the Wolf.

“Wonderful things, Alpha? _Do you know what you have done?_ ”

Kouga stands defiant and smiles. He takes one bag from his belt and upends the shining shards into his palm. A billion shards of light and power go sparkling outward. Even Daisuke stares at them with desire in his eyes until Kouga closes his fist.

“I know exactly what I've done; that's why I'm here. To tell _you_. I brought the shards of the shikon no tama; not all of them, when it shattered many went...elsewhere...but enough. I brought the shards of the shikon no tama...and with them, I found Kagome. A miko. And she's _mine_.”

Eiji stirs.

“A miko. This woman – the one who saved Sho, Shiori's son.”

Kouga grins.

“The very same. Not the usual type of miko, this one; but the details...don't concern yourself with the details. She's mine, like I said – _not to be touched_.”

The blue of his eyes intensifies, and a low shudder passes through the lower ranks of those assembled.

Fumio rumbles, but says nothing; Izumi only continues to stare at Kouga, and then turns her gaze away in indifference. Daisuke nods slowly, and Eiji follows him; they have no choice, Kouga's word is his will, and that will is Law.

Only Kameko speaks up, blinking slowly, her voice a rumble lower even than Daisuke's.

“Kouga, do you really know what you are doing? Do you really trust this miko, based on one act of kindness?”

Kameko's eyes are great and gold; she is the eldest of their kind, had been the mate of an alpha so many generations ago that the name of her mate is no longer remembered, except by her. Kouga respects her, but he has no intention of changing his mind, of doubting his own decision. And Kameko's question...it's the wrong question anyway. He says as much.

“I already said, I know what I've done – I know what I'm _doing_. And that isn't why I trust her; I trust her because she's Kagome – because she's mine – because she has been since the moment I saw her.”

“And the shards of the shikon no tama? You are prepared for the fight that will soon come to you? The fight that has already arrived, the fight to defend what you have claimed as your own?”

Kouga grins and pours the shards back into their bag, reattaches the bag to his waist.

“Of course. They're shards of the shikon no tama, after all...but they're mine now, and their power will help me protect them. If there's nothing else, I've got work to do.”

Kouga leaves, and with him come Ginta and Hakkaku and a slow stream of most of the other wolves in the chamber. Even the elders leave, seeking out their own rooms and softer furs to lay on.

Kameko remains, rumbling discontently to herself.

“Kouga...Kouga...you pup. It wasn't...the shards I was talking about...”

She blinks great golden eyes and then lays her head down on her forepaws.

 _The woman_.

“That woman...Kouga...”


	20. Tacitus Tempus

In the dim warmth of Kouga's chamber deep in the den, a slow, low wriggling line of pups made their way one by one across the furs. He hadn't been gone ten minutes before the first of them made his way in; most of them blended with the brown and black and grey of their surroundings, but their leader did not. Their leader was _Sho_ , and he had come following the scent of the one whose power had taken away all his terrible pain.

Sho was bright and white, if tiny, and he made his way to his savior's side before all the others and chose prime place, snuggled between her arm and her chest. He scented blood – pain – power – herbs – strangeness – but most of all, more than anything else he scented Kouga and the claim that made this strange girl pack.

One by one, the other pups followed, restraining whines and tiny _yuffs_ of noise. Little bodies wriggled close, pounced past each other and rolled, trotted and padded and crawled closer still until most of the fur Kagome had been laying beneath was dislodged; in its place she had a blanket of pups, pups sprawled across her legs and over her belly, pups tucked against her sides shoulders and laying along her arms.

A black-furred baby snuffled at her hair and sneezed, before sneaking beneath it. Sho, tiny as he was, showed milk teeth to the others that tried to push in on his spot, and then gave in to the pressure that was a half dozen bodies all bigger than his crushing in close to get near Kagome.

It was the way of things that the pups would nap like this, generally with one of the older wolves at the center of their pile to keep watch on things. Kagome was not precisely pack, but she was not anything else, either – not food, though she smelled like it; not dangerous, though she smelled like that too. In the end, as Kouga had known it would, instinct compelled them to accept her as they would have accepted any other female he made a claim on.

_Protect. Be near, this one...be near, and protect._

By the time Kouga returned from his _session_ with the council, there was hardly anything of Kagome to be seen. One of her arms was flung up over her face; the bandaged portion of her side was visible, smooth skin and the linen wrapped around it – everywhere else, in every conceivable position, at every possible angle, a ball or a curl or a flop of fluff was taking up every inch of space. He stared for only a moment; he had expected a few of them to make their way in to investigate, not every pup in the den!

A low, rumbling growl of irritation sent some of the more wakeful pups scrambling out of his way, so that he could at least stand beside her. One of her closed eyes was visible beneath the curve of her arm, and he reached down and began to shove pups out of the way right and left, careful not to wake her. The little ones weren't the only wolves interested in cuddling Kagome, and she was _his_ – pups they might be, but they weren't going to keep him from his woman.

Kouga was...not tired, exactly, but wanting a bit of rest now that he was home and the _excitement_ had died down. He pulled out the tie that bound up his hair, and took off his headband, unwrapped his feet. Carefully, not wanting to wake the woman, Kouga wiggled his way in behind her. Growls wrangled space for him, but just when he thought he could wrap an arm around Kagome and relax, a tiny yelp answered his motion and a muzzle wriggled its way out from between layers of fur, Kagome, and Kouga's body.

Scowling, Kouga reached down and pulled out the offending pup and dropped him in a less _inconvenient_ spot. Kagome shifted a little as he came close behind her, pressed her back against his chest and mumbled, brought her arm down across her side and then shifted it forward to snuggle Sho close against her body. She rubbed her face against his fur, and then was still again.

Kouga lay down, one arm outstretched, the other draped carefully over Kagome's ribs, away from her wound, and then pressed forward – and then almost shouted when a cold, wet nose and a pair of gleaming black eyes made themselves known from beneath the outspread curtain of Kagome's dark hair.

“ _Kuroku_! Get out of there; in her hair, _really_!”

The black-furred pup, Kuroku, obeyed, but only wriggled far enough out of Kagome's hair that there was room for Kouga to press himself full length against Kagome's back _finally_ and snuggle against her as he had wanted to. He rubbed his cheek against her hair and closed his eyes; he breathed deeply, savoring warmth and the soft odor of her sleeping body beside him.

_I could get used to this..._

When he had dozed off and they were certain of this, the pups he had dislodged came crawling out of corners and wriggled out from behind ledges and beneath furs. In a matter of minutes, the pile had reformed itself around Kagome and Kouga both.   


	21. Caedite Eos

For many days, they have been waiting; watching. In ones and twos their presence was not noticeable - no more than a shallow disturbance of _youki_ to be attributed to any one of a thousand things. The beat of wings was no louder than the beat of many birds; the scent of them, though unfamiliar, was not necessarily a threat and attracted no attention.

Wild caws and cackles full of dark intention and wicked messages might have set up an alert among the wolves that traversed the wild borders of the pack's lands, but there had been distraction – devastation – the promise of death to distract the guards from their normal watchfulness. They were harpies, abysmal creatures that carried a sewer stench and the terrible form of grinning, half-bodied birds from which erupted goblin-faced or more humanoid torsos. They screech and dive and wail now that they are approaching in force; they are no longer concerned with secrecy.

They intend to take these mountains for their own.

They think of the wolves that ruled there as little more than livestock, food to stuff against the suffering of an insatiable hunger. While they waited for their leader, they fought among each other, males and females beating with their great wings, biting and clawing and setting the air and trees aflame with ghastly powers.

The leader descends from above and silences all the others with a single shriek and a malodorous wave. Carrion odor sends even his own kind reeling backwards. The leader is the Twins, Jigoku and Jaaku, and they are the darkness and the fire and all the promise of terrible things that is in their names. They speak not with one voice, but with one purpose; in their deformity, two brains, two powers, two youkai fused into one grinning, grotesque parody of something avian below the waist, they were also the most dangerous and cunning of their kind. Now...now, they were empowered.

Now, they have the shikon no tama to fuel all the furor of their rage, all the carnage of their lust. They possess only a single shard, but it is more than enough to treble the danger of their presence – more than enough to make them think themselves invincible, even though they have recognized the enormous presence of the Wolf Alpha.

Jakkaku speaks, words to beget war.

“Take the mountain! Claim the high stone peaks where the wolves cannot go and _kill them all_. Kill them all!”

There is a great roar of acclamation.

On the other side of the mountain the harpies are stealing for themselves, Kouga stirs in his doze beside Kagome, and pricks his ears to the sound of trouble.

Faintly, in dreams influenced by a power she has barely begun to know, Kagome senses wings, dozens of wings, beating their way closer. They frighten her, and fear startles out of her dreams. She moves to sit up, her heart beating wildly, but something heavy is pressing down across her hip, and something lighter but still a warm, fuzzy weight covers her, presses against her, touches even her cheek.

Carefully, oh so carefully, Kagome blinks and turns her head to the side, and as she does so two things become clear. One is Kouga's face, relaxed in sleep; the other is a pair of black, gleaming eyes, and a wet nose that pushes itself into her ear and then snuffles against her cheek and then back to her ear again.

“Well hello, little one -”

And then she realizes what the weight over her is – why it so much warmer and _fuzzier_ than the blanket Kouga had covered her with on his way out.

 _Pups_.

She is _covered_ in pups.

As she moves, some of the wake, yawning, and blink their bright eyes at her, tongues lolling and pink as they pant and press closer.

They're cute, but her dream is danger and disturbance to her still, and she is grateful when she feels Kouga shift behind her enough that he can stroke the hair away from her face.

“You are awake, Kagome – but it hasn't been very long.”

“I know, I – I had a bad dream.”

And then she turns to look at the door, feels muscles in her body tightening and responding to the inner adrenaline surge – fight or flight. Risk or rescue.

“Kouga, I think something _terrible_ is going to happen.”

He nuzzles her cheek.

“If it does, I'll protect you, Kagome.”

“But Kouga – who's going to protect you?”

He stares at her startled for a long moment and then shrugs and allows his features to relax into their usual grin.

“Protect _me_? I don't need protecting, Kagome! Don't worry – don't worry about me.”

His casual dismissal of her concern does not reassure her. She feels...she _feels..._ a tingle. Something familiar...coming closer. Coming closer very fast and bringing _terror_ with it.

_Something is coming -_


	22. Tempus Fugit

Perhaps an hour passes before Kouga's time with Kagome is disrupted yet again – this time by the sudden, panting presence of Ginta and Hakkaku.

“Kouga-sama!”

“Kouga-sama, there's trouble -”

In a moment Kouga is on his feet, scattering pups in all directions. The light is long gone; the darkness in the den is broken only by a pale shaft of moonlight, scattered many directions as it come down through the rock.

“Trouble? Tell me – be quick!”

His eyes are glowing in the dark, and Ginta and Hakkaku exchange a glance; this is something new in their Alpha, but there isn't time to worry about it.

“The guards and patrols were leaving – they were attacked on the way out toward the borders. Four different groups, all of them turned back -”

“There's injuries, but no deaths – not yet. We called them all back and postponed the others and then came to tell you -”

Kouga eyes the two of the for moment, glances over his shoulder at Kagome. She is sitting up now, awake but quiet, watching and listening; Sho is on her lap now, though all the other pups have fled. She scratches behind his ears and meets Kouga's eyes.

“I guess you were right, Kagome. I should've listened; I'm sorry.”

Again, Ginta and Hakkaku exchange a glance, but this time Kouga explains.

“She woke an hour ago – she had a bad dream – she said trouble was coming. Kagome...is there anything you can tell me about the trouble?”

“Wings -”

The word pops out of her mouth before she can stop herself, and then she stops and shakes her head, feels the same odd _pulse_ of power and feeling within her that had driven her dream.

“Sorry, I – that's all I felt. Just...wings. Lots of wings.”

She doesn't say that she can _still_ feel it; it sounds too strange even to her, and Ginta is already looking at her with a strange expression. Hakkaku bears a grim face.

“The bodies of the youkai that the second patrol brought back with them _are_ some kind of bird thing, but wings is...only about half the problem, I'd say.”

Kouga stretches, and then shrugs.

“Whatever they are, they're trespassing and I'll have to teach them otherwise. Attack my pack, on their own ground? I don't think so.”

Hakkaku interrupts his anger.

“Kouga-sama, these bird things, they're dangerous. Organized. And they've got a leader – a strange one. First patrol ran into him – them – it. Some kind of twin version of those bird-things; old and powerful and very, very nasty, and taking power from a shard of the shikon no tama. Almost took out Daiki -”

“Daisuke's son?”

Hakkaku nods, and Kouga raises an eyebrow at that, squeezes his right hand unconsciously, feels the pulse of power responding there.

“So there are more of them...and they have a leader...and I guess you and I aren't the only ones with shards in us, huh Kagome?”

Kagome closes her left hand around her right wrist; _shards in her_ – she doesn't like to think about it. Kouga scowls in irritation, runs his claws through his hair and then stalks back to the ledge where Kagome is sitting, rummages around on a little shelf beside it and then pulls out the tie he uses to hold his hair back.

While he readies himself, he gives orders to Ginta and Hakkaku.

“You two will come with me; we'll hunt out the leader and kill it and then the rest should disperse back to wherever they came from. If they don't -”

Ginta interrupts him.

“If they don't, they might come back here. Half the guard is injured, and we've got too many pups to risk it.”

Kouga glares at him for a long moment, then strips out of his fur, and crosses the room naked to choose fresh clothes. In normal circumstances, Kagome's sudden squeak of complete embarrassment might have pleased him – now, he is too distracted. He wraps fur around his hips, his calves, his forearms, and curses the lack of his armor.

He might need it now, against a foe who also bears a shard of the shikon no tama...against a foe who can fly.

 _A foe with an army_.

Ginta and Hakkaku are thinking the same thing he is, but Ginta is the only one who says anything out loud.

“Your armor -”

Kouga shakes his head.

“No time. I left it in that village; I couldn't carry it and Kagome both. I'm fast, but not fast enough to get there before those _things_ get here – never mind get there and back.”

A small voice comes from behind them; Kagome's.

“Kouga – Kouga, couldn't you use the shikon no tama?”

“No luck, Kagome – it made me faster, but -”

“But that's only one shard, isn't it? Don't you have more? I mean – if you really need that armor...one shard makes you faster, so...”

Kouga's eyes gleamed.

“So more than one would make me even faster! You're a _genius_ , Kagome!”


	23. Tueri Susceptor

Kagome flushed, and Kouga flashed a grin at her and then took one of the bags of shards from his belt and poured some of them across his palm. He selected two of the largest pieces, and then put the rest back – he wouldn't use more than he needed. They were _curiosities_ , these shikon shards...but he did not want to come to depend on them. Like his armor, they were a useful tool, but in a pinch he knew his own flesh, his own _youki_ , his own nature were all he could rely on.

One at a time, wincing only a little, Kouga forced each shard into the flesh of his legs and felt them _squirm_ in his flesh and then lie still against the bones of his calves, pulsing power into his blood.

“Ginta, Hakkaku, you stay here and guard the den; I feel...I feel _power_ in these things. I bet I'll be there and back in two hours – maybe less. Kagome – _don't move_. You're safest here, you understand? Trust Ginta and Hakkaku like you'd trust me; trust the pack like you'd trust me, they know you're mine -”

“I'm not worried about me, Kouga – I know I'm safe, it's _you_ I'm worried about. Be _careful_ -”

“You really are worried, aren't you? I'll be careful, Kagome.”

He touches her cheek, and then takes the bags of shards from his belt and hands them to her.

“Just in case; I don't want one of those things to grab hold of them, that'd be...a pain. I'll see you soon, Kagome.”

He tries to give her a reassuring smile, and then he is gone.

Out of her sight, he grabs Ginta and Hakkaku each by an arm and squeezes tightly, digs his claws into the tender flesh.

“You protect her, you understand? You keep her safe – you keep her safe until I get back here.”

He strides past them down the hall then toward the entrance of the den; they stare at his back as he moves away from him, and then glance at each when he is gone.

“He's gone crazy over this woman -”

“Shikon woman, he called her. She's beautiful, but -”

“Yeah, but. That's not even been enough for our own females.”

“The power, you think?”

“The power – of the shikon no tama? No, it doesn't do anything like that.”

“But Kouga's gone crazy over the woman...”

Ginta shrugs and then looks back toward the entrance to Kouga's chamber, breathes deeply and contemplates Kagome's scent.

“Maybe it's just her – but we can worry about that later. For now she's his, and to be protected.”

“That's for sure; I don't want make Kouga angry.”

They wince in unison, and then move down the passage, following the direction Kouga has gone.

“She'll have to be like our sister then -”

“Yeah, like a little sister. Do you think – do you think he's really going to keep her? Take her for a mate?”

Hakkaku shrugs.

“Don't know; anyway, she's all right with me – I don't mind her for a little sister. She saved Sho, and I don't think he'd be alive if Kouga hadn't brought her back her.”

Ginta nods his agreement, and they turn to their tasks. The pups must go in the deepest chambers of the den; the females are sent to follow and protect them in case the worst happens. A gray-haired quartet follows the females – Daisuke, Eiji, Fumio and Izumi, protecting the wisdom of the pack. Only Kameko remains, still in the shape of a great wolf.

When the others have all gone she lies down across the entrance to the Den and closes her eyes. She ignores the questions that Ginta and Hakkaku direct at her, and they are silent soon enough, concerned with other things – the guards that aren't injured must be assembled and instructed; in the back of their minds, they must worry for Kouga; at the forefront of their thoughts is the woman – the woman, and Kouga's instruction to protect her in his place.


	24. Velocius Sentiens

Outside, Kouga walks down to the edge of the river, well away from the entrance to the den, before he even thinks about running – he remembers the speed he touched with Kagome in his arms, the way he had teased her even as he discovered that the shikon no tama was a powerful influence, indeed. With three shards, he should be three times as fast, and that is dangerous speed.

He grins, and braces one foot against the soft earth, and takes a _step_ -

 _Wind_.

 _Rush_.

Perceive – respond – react -

Don't think; do it -

If he thinks, then it'll be too late.

When he is in motion, sound are slowed and the air strikes him like fire, blistering against his skin. He is encompassed by a tornado, a vortex of impossible winds in response to his movement across the currents of the air; he moves in a new phenomenon of weather.

All this, in one step – one movement, one intention focused more by power than by muscles, movement by will and not by action. He takes another step, and another – not more than ten, and then Kouga stops, breathing hard, feeling his heart pound like it's about to burst. It isn't the effort, just the excitement, the wolf within him pleased by the great power he now commands.

He stands on the other side of the forest, on the edge of Echigo – it's been moments, and he's traveled a tenth of the way.

“Two hours? I'll be back in two _minutes_ at this rate!”

He is inexpressibly pleased – so pleased that he doesn't notice the enemy streaking at him out of the sky until it's too late. He turns, but just in time to see the thing that tackles him to the ground, raking his flesh with sharp talons before it beats its wings back, overwhelms him with rotten odors, and takes to the air to dive at him again.

There is time then for him to turn and see first hand what he is fighting – disgusting, this thing, its body reeking, its feathers pale but streaked with dirt and blood. Gray-skinned, well muscled, the torso rises out of a distortion of bird flesh marked with a leering grin. Kouga throws a blast of ice blue _youki_ at his foe, but the creature is too agile in the air for that and he snarls his displeasure toward the sky.

He is angry now, and he races toward the harpy without even thinking. His shape and everything about him is obscured in the sudden vortex of the wind, and the creature turns to flee from him and fails. It has been sucked into the rush of air; it is being pulled inexorably toward him, and when it is within reach Kouga leaps up and alights on the gross body and grasps the thing's arms, one in each hand.

The claws dig deep into the gray, spoiled flesh. The harpy wails and writhes, beats its wings at him and gnashes its pitiful fangs, but Kouga is unconcerned. The leader is not this one; he has no use for any of these things except to take that shard of the shikon no tama and add it to his collection. They are trespassers, and they must die.

“Not your lucky day, is it?”

He looks into the harpy's eyes and lets his fangs flash in a feral smile. With one burst of strength he tears its arms out of their sockets. Dark, foul blood sprays outward and falls to spatter the ground. In pain, short of half its limbs, bleeding wildly from its wounds, the harpy begins to fall. Kouga leaps off and away from it, and lands on his feet, stares as the mass of the thing falls to the ground and flops pathetically, seeking to save itself.

Kouga aims a blast of _youki_ at its face and waits a moment to be sure its struggles have stopped. He turns his face toward Edo and then almost runs the opposite direction – back home. These things – he could take on a dozen of them without even breaking a sweat, if this is the best they have to offer!

_But...what if it's not? And the leader -_

He is aware from his own experience that even a single shard of the shikon no tama can bring strange increases in power and potential. Kouga flexes the fingers of his right hand and then makes up his mind and continues on his way to Edo.

_Better safe than sorry – and Ginta and Hakkaku can take care of things for a little while -_

If anything, he moves faster than he did with his first trial of new powers, and before a quarter of an hour had passed he burst past the edge of the village and came to a stop in the midst of a whirlwind of dust, his eyes seeking back and forth for the old miko, Kaede.

She is there almost immediately. Her sense of his presence is strong, and he is familiar to her now, at least in that way; there is _more_ to him now, a swelling energy, a flash of power, and her eyes are old but still, she sees clearly the pair of shards implanted in his legs and isn't sure how she should feel about that, if there's anything she should say.

She holds her silence, and bows to him, and when she looks up and has time to take in his expression, the taut edges of his unnatural features, she is glad that is all she has done.

“Kouga-sama, what brings you back so soon? I trust the girl is well?”

“Kagome's fine; there's other trouble – I came for my armor, old woman. I hope you kept it safe.”

“Yes – yes, it is quite safe, I haven't touched it; it is where and as you left it.”

“Good.”

Without further words Kouga makes his way into her house and begins to strap the armor on; no reason to carry it, no reason to wait. In a matter of moments the burnished breastplate gleams across his chest, and Kouga stretches his arms and does up the last few straps and buckles, feeling more himself. It doesn't look like much, but it is no mere samurai's armor – infused with _youki_ from twenty generations of pack Alphas, strengthened with the blood of ten thousand kills, beaten many times but never broken, it is one of a kind and it has protected Kouga well for many years now.

Kaede stares at him and considers the kind of trouble that has probably come for him; considers how seriously he seems to be taking it, even to the point of returning here for his armor so soon...considers, and then goes to the corner and takes up her spare bow and a quiver full of arrows.

Kouga is already at the door, and he turns to toss of some quick remark over his shoulder and then stops to stare critically at Kaede as she approaches him with her arms full of weapons.

“You're stupid if you think you have a chance -”

“I do not seek to attack you; it is for the girl. She's a strange one, but I sensed the power in her. If there is trouble with youkai, then she will be a great ally to you, but a weapon like this is far safer for her to use than a sword or her bare hands.”

Kouga stares for a moment. He hasn't yet had a chance to think about what it really means – having Kagome with him. The thought that she has useful powers, that she might not always need protecting, is a new one, but he accepts it at one, without argument. Has he not already seen how strong her power can be? Has he not already tasted it, working its healing magic on Sho?

He takes the bow and quiver from Kaede.


	25. Nos Tacemus

Kouga has questions – questions for which Kagome has proved to possess no answer. He wonders if he can he trust this old miko enough to ask her.

_She left my armor alone, didn't purify it – and this's twice she's helped Kagome now._

“Miko, can one of your kind heal one of mine with power?”

Kaede blinks at him, at the intrusion of his question.

“Ah...you...you are asking if a miko's power could be used to heal youkai? I have never tried, and I have never heard of such a thing being attempted; _reiki_ and _youki_ are forces in opposition. A miko's power purifies youkai, that is all I know.”

Kouga narrows his eyes at her, and then shrugs.

“All right, then.”

And then he pauses, and lets down the tightness of his shoulders just a little, and gives her just the tiniest bit of the grin he is so free with around Kagome.

“Thanks, old woman. I owe you one.”

He is gone in a flash of speed that leaves her breathless, as if the whirlwind that follows after him has sucked the air from her lungs. Long after Kouga leave her, Kaede is still comtemplating the oddness of his strange visit.

“Can a miko....heal...youkai? What a strange question...”

She thinks about it for a while – not just the question itself, which she thinks she has already answered, but the reasons he might have for asking it. That girl...that strange girl...

But village life is hard, and full of challenges, and within five minutes a farmer arrives with a gash in his hand, in need of her attention. By nightfall, between one thing and another, she has completely forgotten.

Later, it will occur to her that she should have recognized the signs, the obvious answer – but like all things, it was only hindsight that would make the truth clear.

* * *

Kouga delays himself only a few moments on his way back to the den; he stops at the edge of the wood to scent the air, to track feelers of scent and presence that leech the air of goodness.

 _Trespassers_...

Instinct is uneasy within him; something feels...quiet, when he expected the beginning of battle, the faint clash of conflict to be coming to him.

_Did I go too fast for them?_

Somehow, despite the fact that it has been less than an hour, he does not think so. One had been waiting for him along his outward path; why is there nothing now? His fingers tighten on the bow the old woman gave him for Kagome; he feels the tingling of his unease continue to strengthen even as he runs into the trees and then comes out the other side with all his senses on high alert.

Up through the edge of the trees, and over the low ridge that hides the river – across the river, past the boiling spume of the water – up past the silence, up over the rock and the ledges and still, still the silence – _terrible silence -_

He begins to see carnage, in bits and pieces – a limb here, some feathers there, a splash of blood dark and wet against the stone. His steps slow despite himself; where is the smell of death, the taint of youki? He turns, and above and ahead of him he sees two familiar figures sprawled against the ground in front of the den, only their heads and arms visible from where he stands now.

“Ginta! Hakkaku -”

His heart lurches within him, and he races up over the last few ledges and stops directly in front of the entrance to the great cavern that opens into the den. He stops unbalanced, all his weight leaning forward for another step, almost topples as the whole strange tableaux reveals itself to him.

Ginta and Hakkaku are unconscious on the ground. Behind them, a low growl sounds from the great figure of Kameko laying across the threshold, blocking the way into the den. Between her great paws Kagome lies unconscious, her arms outstretched toward the _inside_ and over them, and on the floor, and dusted into Kameko's fur shimmers a sparkling dust, fine and gray and _blank_ to Kouga's senses in a disturbing way.

“Kameko – Kameko, what happened here!”

He kneels between Ginta and Hakkaku; he hears heartbeats from them, low thuds of sound that are reassuring, and then leaps to his feet and crosses to kneel again by Kagome's side. She, too, is breathing, but she is pale and clammy and he smells the strong odor of her blood; the wound in her side again, or some other injury? Why is she out here? What happened to Ginta, to Hakkaku? Why is there only silence from the den?

He rears up and stands and stares into Kameko's face.

“You haven't answered me, Kameko.”

“Because there are other things for you to be...concerned with now, _Alpha_. Death is coming; on terrible wings, it is coming...ah, what a power. What a terrible power...this girl...possesses...it has drained even me.”

“Drained...Kameko, what _happened?”_

She shakes her great head and turns her muzzle to look behind him.

“Not now, Kouga. Look to the leader...of the ones she slayed. And be careful – be...very careful.”


	26. Sui Generis

Kouga hears a thousand things that beg a thousand questions in Kameko's single sentence, but she is right. There is no time for answers; not now. The silence that so disturbs him is being broken by caws and cries. There is stench on the wind, and a foul presence, tainted _youki_...and fainter still, a presence he knows, pulsing in rhythm with the shards he possesses himself – shikon no tama.

 _The leader is coming_.

From Kameko's few words and the scattered bits of remains he passed on his way up he has put together a few truths. An attack, which Ginta and Hakkaku had been hard pressed to defend against; an attack against which they had received the aid of Kagome's power. Why and how would have to wait until later; for now, the weight of defending the den had fallen on him, and him alone.

He clenches his fists and turns to face outward, looks upward and sees the oncoming ranks of his foes. A score of harpies like the one that had attacked him on the way to Edo, and in front of them a single one that stood out in its strangeness, two torsos, two heads, four arms, one monstrous body – and a sharp, tingling presence of shikon no tama.

In a flash, Kouga is gone from the ledge in front of the den, flying through the air on wings born of nothing but speed. He crosses in front of the first half dozen of his foes and surprises them with his presence mid-air; there is an expression of anger, real fury, on the face of the leader twins, and Kouga smirks to see it – whatever Kagome did, it must've hurt them _badly_ \- and then reaches out with the claws of his right hand and rakes them across the air.

 _Youki_ flashes outward from his fingertips and streaks across the sky like pale blue lightning. The odor of charred flesh and burned feathers oozes into the air, and six bodies fall in piece to the ground. The group of attackers appears completely surprised by the swift attack that has hit them; they are used to a certain invulnerability that comes from attacking from the sky, but Kouga is among them, beside them, wounding the almost at will.

Before even the twin leaders have made up their minds about what is going on, another six foes fall before Kouga's strength. Claws penetrate and leave gaping wounds. _Youki_ smolders on torn flesh. Now a dozen harpies are on the ground, most of them dead and the rest wounded enough that there will be no flight for them, no escaping.

Koua lands beside them, and the scrabbling few give him no trouble at all.

A roar of rage comes from the mouth of Jigoku; beside his brother, Jaaku screeches commands to the few who remain, stronger than the others that Kouga has destroyed but no match for his power, no match for his rage. With strong, powerful leaps he makes his way back into the air, propelling himself from the treetops, from the side of the mountain, from one body, bleeding black blood as it falls, to another.

Below him, though he does not see it, being distracted with his own _activity_ , Ginta and Hakkaku are beginning to wake. Memory comes to them slowly of the last few moments before consciousness crashed down into the darkness, bringing them with it – memory of battle, and blood, and the threat of being overwhelmed, being pushed back -

And then the memory of light.

“Kagome-onee-chan! Where did she -”

“Kagome-onee-chan! What happened to -”

The words burst out of them in unison; startled, they turn and look at each other, and then jump to their feet. It is a sign of their devotion to Kouga that their immediate though is of her, but the moment they turn they can see her, propped still between Kameko's great paws, and in the next moment they turn their eyes upward, their attention called by the sounds of battle.

Ginta sends a cry aloft, and waves when Kouga turns to look down at him, but the distraction has not come at the best of moments.

Ginta only sees blood, not black but red, and his cry of greeting becomes a cry of horror.


	27. Mortem Desursum

Kouga does not see what it is that strikes him – fang or talon, wing or sharp, dark _youki_. His eyes are on Ginta and on Hakkaku beside him, and it is in this instant of his distraction, his relief, that he is struck. One moment, his claws are reaching out in front of him, dark with foul blood; the next, he is falling, falling backwards with a red gash of fire ripped across his thigh.

Blood spurts and falls in raining droplets to the ground, and a grunt of pain and surprise passes Kouga's lips. He hears Ginta cry out in horror, but almost at once he feels itching and burning overtake the fire of his wound, and turns in mid-air so that he can see the one who wounded him. It is a female who assails him, gray-skinned, guiltless, her features twisted in fury. She wields a long _naginata_ and her blade gleams blue with reflected sky and red with reflected blood. Kouga senses danger in her, but fear is overtaking her already.

The slash of her blade should have ripped his leg open to the bone; instead, what she inflicted on him looks like little more than a careless cut – and even as she watches, it begins to close, the skin reaching across the wound, building a bridge of flesh. Kouga sees it too, and smiles.

He is youkai, wolf and Alpha, and he has always been among the strong. He has always regenerated with a smoothness that was to be envied by those with less power, less _talent_ , but _this_ is something new, a swiftness of response that surprises even him. He knows it is because of the shards of the shikon no tama; he had not expected that they would have such an effect, but he is pleased to discover that this is so.

Kouga falls to the ground but lands on his feet, looking up at the female who descends, her weapon poised to slay him, a terrible shriek coming from her lips. The sound hurts Kouga worse than the slash of her weapon, and he winces and then glares up at his opponent and sends a flare of youki to attack.

_Too slow -_

He knows it even before she dodges, and is moving. It is more than just running-speed that the shikon no tama is adding to his _self_ – speed of motion, speed of reaction, speed of perception, speed of decision – all have increased. He faces his foe in midair and senses other attacks coming toward him – the leader twins moving in his direction and the few remaining harpies spread in a crescent shape that would hit him first.

_Too slow._

This time, the thought brings a grin with it. It is time to show them _power_ – time to show them why he, Kouga, is the youngest Alpha of wolves that has ever been. Why he is the Ookami prince – the leader among leaders, the strongest of the strong.

As he did when he left on his way to the village, Kouga _steps_. Bare earth – raw mountainside – _air_. It doesn't matter. Like that lizard which is capable of running on the surface of the water, he makes his way _up_ , so fast that his feet gain purchase on nothing and send him upward to nowhere.

He attacks from _above_ , like the falcon might the starling, and in doing so he takes his foes completely by surprise. _They_ are the ones who ambush from the air, who dive and take what they wish, a price in blood and torment. This is not something for which they are prepared – not at all.

The first blows of his claws, Kouga directs at the female who wounded him. He slashes upward and inward, reaches for vital organs, tears them free from visceral flesh. The scream the harpy makes pours now like syrup into his ears, thick, sweet – _luscious_. His grin grows wider, gains gleam – presence – darkness -

He leaps upward again, from the harpy's torn and falling body, and with his second attack clears the skies of all his foes but one. Kouga's claws skitter away from the feathers of the leader twins; the great gaping maw of grinning bird's flesh shudders under the blow, but he cannot cut it, cannot penetrate the defense built from the power he himself carries.   


	28. Memento Mori

What follows is a battle – a _reminder_ – that Kouga desperately needs, though he does not know it, would not admit it if he did. Kouga is not overmastered – not quite, but neither does he have the power to take down Jigoku and Jaaku in the same manner as their weaker followers. The power of the shikon no tama has greatly strengthened his own abilities, reinforcing his strengths, strengthening even his weaknesses, but it is not a _perfect power_. It has not made him invulnerable; it has not raised him above the reach of enemies that might find him and seek the destruction of all he holds dear.

The shock of it – that will not sink in until later. In the moment, he remains in the air, staring with vengeful eyes at his opponent. Two minds, one body – one movement, but two wills. Yet two wills in union, or otherwise how could they exist? Kouga's sharp blue eyes bore into two sets set alight with an equal fire of red bloodlust, and he falls to the round once more.

He hears the last noises from the fallen harpies cease. Ginta and Hakkaku are doing their duty, ending the few lives that remain bleeding on the forest floor and in the river and sprawled on the ledges in front of the den. Then there is silence, except for the beating wings of the leader and the sounds of many paws padding close, just out of striking distance, still a threatening presence of wolfish power.

Jigoku's voice comes toward Kouga from the sky – a threat and a taunt both, but tainted by fear.

“You cannot fight us on your own, Wolf?”

Jigoku knows the lesson Kouga is learning – the lesson of mortality, the potential for failure; in their attack on the wolves they had discounted Kouga's true power, increased to a blazing wrath by the presence of the shikon no tama. They had not even known of the miko's presence – _Kagome's_ presence – even now, in her position between Kameko's paws, she was invisible to them, her power overspent and voided by unconsciousness. If they had, they would not have come – or their plan of attack would have been quite different.

Now, they know only that she is among the wolves; a sleeping danger and an invisible threat whose proof is in the silvered dust blowing in the wind.

Kouga is not taunted into answering the challenge that has been thrown at him. He knows the wolves behind him have come not to interfere, but to witness; not to join, but to howl at his victory. He has never failed them; he does not plan to start now. They can _feel_ it; it is the ultimate union, a surge of _oneness_ within the pack.

Straight and true as an arrow, Kouga leaps upward, darting on the empty spaces that lie between him and his foe. To the wolves watching below, even Ginta and Hakkaku who have seen this once before, it is like he is flying, zipping so rapidly from point to point that they do not see him in transition. Then comes battle, but not like any battle Kouga has fought before.

His claws may not be able to penetrate the feathers of the twins' shared hide, the reeking birdflesh that is the lower half of their body – but _youki_ can. Blue fire disturbs the feathers, rakes a bloody wound across them and then upward to the more tender flesh of Jaaku's torso. A high-pitched shriek rends the air and the twins attack.

To the wolves watching below, there is only red fire and blue fire and white sound. Blood falls and spatters, some black, some red; by this, they know that Kouga is wounded – by which is more prevalent, they know that he is winning.

Kouga strips the flesh from beneath the feathers and directs his attacks at a dangerous spot – the place between the torsos of the twins, the place where they are joined together into one being. He braces himself against the great bulk of the bird and strikes deep into gray, rancid tissues, and then jumps back and back down to the ground when he feels a sharp jab in his shoulder.

It is a sword; no magic to it, just a keen edge. Kouga pulls it free and then tosses it aside; he rolls his shoulder and only winces a little; the wound is already healing. He smiles, but it is not his usual grin. It is intent; intense. Purposeful. He gathers the power that is within him; shikon no tama and his own _youki_. He moves upward, aims his attack with the full energy of that power focused behind it, a whirlwind like that which moves behind him from earth to sky.

The sharpness of his claws slashes outward like the blade of a sword. He is moving faster than the eye can see, faster than the limits of flesh should allow.

Kouga cleaves an arm from Jaaku, and a chunk of flesh from his brother's side. The screams please him, and so do the shrieks of _retreat, retreat_ that sound from Jigoku.

There are none left to hear them.

He has done his job well.

He hovers on the edge of following those beating winds, ripping the shard of the shikon no tama from the dead flesh of his foe – but below him a new sound, soft as it is, catches all his attention.

“Kouga...”

It is Kagome's voice, and like lightning striking he is beside her in an instant.

  
  



	29. Natura Sanat

“Kagome! Kagome, you're all right -”

Kouga strokes the softness of her cheek, reaches out and lifts her from between Kameko's paws. The old female's eyes gleam with a certain darkness, seeing his caring, his carefulness, his concern. Kouga sets Kagome on her feet but she is far from steady, and she leans against Kouga gratefully when he steps close to her. This world is wearing on her, mind and body – since she was pulled into the well, her days have been one emergency after another, and only moments of calm strangeness in between.

The last hour flashes across her memory and leaves her shaking; why her? Why did it have to be her? Why couldn't someone else have been pulled through time!

“Kouga...it happened again, Kouga.”

Her eyes are dark with panic and her voice is a low, sharp whisper. Kouga blinks at her and then smiles, strokes her hair.

“I know. I could tell; you've got strength in you, Kagome!”

“I – I -”

Her voice trembles. She swallows a lump in her throat and the words that had nearly made it out, and then tries to speak again.

“I _killed_ them.”

Kouga hears the beat of her heart speed wildly out of control, out of rhythm. Her face is gray; the blue of her eyes has grown dull and flat and without sparkle. Confusion reigns in his thoughts; of course she killed them – the birds that had attacked while he was gone, the harpies with their apparent quest for destruction. But why should a miko grow gray and shaking over the deaths of youkai? Why should a miko care for those she has purified, even if she...even if...

His thoughts stall. She thinks of him as a person – as an attractive male, perhaps a suitor; she saved Sho without knowing how, is bonded to the shikon no tama in a way he can neither understand nor describe.

“Kagome...you shouldn't worry, you know. They would have killed you and many of the others if you hadn't purified them.”

She shakes her head and tears fly from her eyelashes, splash against his cheek, against the armor covering his chest.

“Purified – _murdered_. I'm a murderer – a murderer – they were youkai, but _you're_ youkai. Your wolves – are – are – there's no difference!”

“Kagome!”

Kouga's voice slaps at her sharply. Her eyes are jerked up involuntarily to meet his eyes.

“I -”

“ _Kagome_. I can't forget that you're a stranger – I keep telling myself that, but still...”

He shakes his head.

“Not all youkai are the same. Some are mere beasts, no consciousness, just the instinct, just the darkness, just the power. Some are like us – not many, but some. And some are in between, or like us but bent on sheer destruction. _Listen_ , Kagome, and listen well. Youkai are beings and youkai are beasts. We are the walking spirits of this world, and like the world we are at war within ourselves; always at war. We are at war against human beings, too – it is our nature to devour and destroy that which your kind holds most precious.”

She stares at him unblinking, absorbing, confusion evident but not with what he is transmitting; just why.

“Kagome...just as it is our nature to destroy men, so is it your nature to destroy youkai. It is the reason miko have their power, and priests and monks too; it is to destroy and to protect that you and those like you were given strength.”

“No...no...”

Her voice is faint; almost powerless.

“Don't say know; it's the truth. Why do you think that old miko was so surprised to see you safe with me? Why do you think she stared at you strangely when you went away so willingly in my arms?”

“I don't – I didn't -”

“You're a stranger. I get it. But don't worry, Kagome. You're proof yourself that because something is in our _nature_ , doesn't mean our fate is defined. I would never _devour_ you; unless you wanted me to.”

The laughter grows in his bright eyes again with the innuendo; Kagome flushes, but the lessening of intensity gives her back her voice.

“You're wrong, Kouga. It's not – I'm not – there's nothing in me that wants to destroy! It was an accident; I can't control this _power_ – until I came here, I'd never felt anything like this before!”

Her own words give her courage. Dressed in fur, back straight and eyes flashing, her arms crossed over her chest, she confronts Kouga without thinking about danger – about the pack around them – about what he has just said about youkai nature.

“ _You're._ _W_ _rong. About. Me._ ”

She prods his chest firmly with each word, irritated that he's still in armor.

“I'm _not_ a destroyer, and I _don't_ like killing, and _wasn't made to kill_ – that's just...it's _wrong_. What you said about protecting – maybe that's true. And maybe what you said about youkai is true – because I'm not youkai, and I've never met any before, so I really...so I couldn't say! But you – you're proof that all youkai don't want to destroy all things human, or I wouldn't be here now; I -”

Kagome has built up a nice momentum with her words, but in a moment she slumps again and shakes her head.

“Nice try, Kouga, but getting me angry won't make me forget that I should be sad.”

* * *


	30. Absit Omen

“Kagome – what was it that _happened_? Why did you leave the den? Why did you come out of my room?”

She takes a deep breath and then faces him again, scrubs at her eyes with the back of her hands.

“It was because the dream I had wasn't a dream, Kouga. It was something real – and because something like that dream happened to me again, but I felt more than wings. Those bird-things -”

“They're harpies, Kagome.”

“Harpies, then. The thing that leads them – its not one but two; twice as many terrible things. What they want....what they want...there's no point trying to talk to them. They want a place from which...to attack....they want...they want to _kill...destroy...revenge on the wolf, the wolf who wounded us_ -”

She shudders; her eyes grow distant; as she remembers, the feeling that is so faint now grows stronger once again – as she remembers, she is pulled along the thread of _feeling_ and recognizes that it is a thread o power – a thread of presence – _shikon no tama_....

“-gome! Kagome!”

“Ah – I...what? Kouga?”

He swallows; he is the slightest bit afraid, but she is... _she_ again, herself, a strong presence with her attention undivided.

“Kagome, you...shouldn't do that. Whatever it was you just did – whatever it was -”

Her voice is quiet.

“It's the shikon no tama. It connects me to that leader – because it's inside him – because he's full of malice and ill intentions and coming closer, always closer...or he was. He's retreating now -”

“Kagome that still doesn't answer my question. Why did you come outside? If you didn't want to fight; if you don't want to kill; if you don't know your power then why did you come outside?”

“Because of the dream! Because I saw wings and the all wanted you dead – all of you dead – because I saw it happening and I didn't want it to – I didn't want it to – I thought I'd do _anything_ so that what I saw didn't come to pass. You've been so good to me – and your wolves too – and there are so many little ones – and those harpies are _so_ evil -”

The faintest glow encompasses her body, lavender and lovely. It warms Kouga's fingers warningly, but doe not burn, and in a flash Kouga understands more than he has thus far. He doesn't need to know exactly what she saw; all that matters to him is that she acted to protect his pack when he wasn't there to do so, and that for the second time she has proved herself worthy of his interest. A miko who would protect youkai from other youkai; special indeed.

_And maybe third time's the charm?_

“Kagome, if you can tell what they're doing – if you're connected to the shikon no tama – can you see where they are in the harpies' leader like you can see where they are in me?”

She hesitates only a moment and then nods.

“I – I _think_ so; I won't know until I try.”

“Then we'll try and find out, but I think you'll be able to; I think it's the miko in you, if not the shikon no tama. That old woman in the village – she knew what I had; the power that was in me. Knew better than to say anything, too. Will you come with me, Kagome? When I go hunting?”

She swallows; she knows what he's asking. _Hunting_. To go after the harpies; to slay and destroy them; use her power against them; but she knows she must say yes. He saved her; she owes him. More than that, it is the shikon no tama that is causing all this trouble, and she is the one who brought it to the dangerous past. Even unknowing, even unwilling, _she had done it_.

She had not realized at first what she had done; she was still not certain of the full consequences, but now she knew that there _were_ consequences _– maybe terrible ones_.

She takes a deep breath.

She closes her eyes and makes a decision. She makes it because she is dutiful, because she is loyal and self sacrificing. She makes it because she is too kind not to feel guilty – and because Kouga is the one who asks.

“All right. I'll do it. I'll help you hunt them, even though I don't know how much help I'll be –”

Kouga grins.

“Don't sell yourself short, Kagome. You've already done more than I ever would've though to ask of you. I wouldn't even ask except – except I think I'm going to _need_ you, Kagome. I think I'm going to need you, and your help.”


	31. Nunquam Amavit

To Kouga's lasting surprise, Kagome steps forward and hugs him tightly. When she steps back her eyes are bright and she is smiling again; her mood has completely flipped, and though he doesn't know it, it is because of his words. More than anything in the world Kagome wants to be _useful_ – to be in the right place, at the right time; to be _needed_ by someone, someone she can actually help.

She doesn't like the idea of killing, but she can accept it when it is Kouga; he is youkai, after all – and more than that, he is a wolf, protecting his pack as no one else can. To do the killing _herself_ – she doesn't like to think of it. She doesn't like to remember it. For her, the moment in which she had come out running from the den, hearing the sound of battle, the whimpering of the pups in dark, private chambers – it was a blur that became a blazing light, just as the moments after she fell bleeding to the ground beside the well have become a blur to her, and that same light.

She knows now it is her own power – she knew even while she was running out of Kouga's room, was driven by some deeper instinct than mere _knowledge_ to go outside, to bare her soul at the attacking beasts. Still – _still_. She does not intend to kill unless she must, to protect another life – but within herself the knowledge firms that she might have to, and that she must not shy away.

This is not her world, but it might as well be; she knows no way to return to her own time and place. Unless something changes, she will be here for the rest of her life, and though there is a certain trembling within her at that thought – that she might never see her family again, that the world she came from might be forever closed to her – she is resolved on what she must do; on what is the _right thing_.

She meets Kouga's gaze squarely, and when she speaks her voice is steady.

“Are we going to leave now, Kouga?”

“No; not now. There's work to be done here, and healing. If that many of them attacked there must be a damned legion of the things wherever they came from; it wouldn't do any good for us to go by ourselves. I'll bring the guard with me, the fighters of the pack – we'll take them out, destroy them before they have a chance to come back in greater numbers and try to kill us again.”

His eyes are hard.

“I don't want fighting near the pups and breeding females; not if I can help it. We'll take the fight to the harpies, and teach them what it means to trespass against the wolf Alpha!

Kagome nods and tightens her fist, tries to prepare herself even though she has only the faintest idea of what's coming.

“All right! We'll do it, Kouga! I'll do everything I can to help!”

“Good. Are you feeling better now? You can stand on your own?”

Kagome flushes and almost jumps back from him, wraps her hands tightly around each other and looks anywhere but at Kouga's face.

“Yes! Yes, I'm – fine, now. Sorry, I – I'm sorry I've been so much trouble.”

Kouga only laughs and shakes his head.

“Trouble, she says. Ha!”

A rustle of wind announce his departure, and in the next moment Kagome sees him down at ground level, moving among the bodies of his defeated foes, waving at Ginta and Hakkaku to get their attention. She can't hear what he's saying, but she grins just because of the expression on his face. One minute Kouga is serious, stone-faced – the next he's lapping up praise like a puppy, and his smile is the brightest thing she's every seen.

“You should be careful, Kagome-san. Very careful...with our Alpha. It could be dangerous not to – dangerous for him...and more dangerous for you.”

Kagome turns and faces Kameko, who has spoken. The low rumble of her voice is not threatening; her eyes are closed, and despite her size the expression on the great wolf's face is...peaceful. Content.

Kagome takes one step toward her and then stops, hesitant to test – to trust – she doesn't know what kind of power Kouga has over his wolves, after all. The pups are one thing, but...but...

“Yes, you should be afraid of me, Kagome-san. You should be afraid...because you are human, and miko, and I have been around long enough than to trust your intentions – even now. You are a strange one...but I could still crush your head in my jaws like an unpeeled grape.”

“Ah – I – Kameko-san – I don't -”

Kameko laughs, a low, grumbling sound.

“Don't worry, little miko. As long as you have our Alpha's protection, as long as his scent marks you as his woman, you are safe. Safe from me – safe from the back. But he has never been in love before; he has never shown an interest in a female, human or wolf. Those who he might have chosen from among us long ago gave up trying; and I wonder, what is it about you that has set his heart beating with heat?”

Kagome flushes bright, shining red and tries to stutter a denial, but Kameko will have none of that.

“It is love; not human love, but the love of a wolf – sharper, stronger, darker. Do not play games with him; do not be coy. Make your choice and stick by it, or when the day comes that you are no longer his, I will take pack vengeance myself.”

Kagome swallows thickly, and squeezes her hands into tighter fists.

“I...Kameko-san, I barely know Kouga. But he's been good to me, and I do – I do like him. I wouldn't ever hurt him -”

“You might without trying; you are only human after all.”


	32. Alter Ego

As Kameko intends, Kagome spends a long while thinking about the things the elder wolf has said to her. She contemplates love, and what it might mean for youkai – what it might mean for any being who is not human, who does not feel human emotions, who does not think human thoughts. She finds herself wondering if love is a thing that means the same thing to all people, to all beings; if it is not a feeling but a state of being; if it is not emotion but action suspended, waiting...

She confuses herself, and comes to clarity, and then confuses herself again. She doesn't know that she is thinking on one of the Great Questions; on one of the things that have driven men to madness and given the great philosophers something to ponder down through the ages of the earth. She's not a student of deep teachings or proud sages; what she knows is only her own experience, and she can't even begin to come to conclusions from that – it almost _isn't_ experience. One kiss – Kouga's _marking_ , rubbing his scent against her flesh – his hands on her cheeks – the way they are always close -

Each time she thinks about it, she flushes, but her thoughts bring her nowhere except back to the same uncomfortable conclusions. Kouga _does_ have feelings for her, even if they aren't quite human feelings; even if she can't say he loves her with the same degree of certainty Kameko can. More disturbing for her is recognizing the tangle of her own feelings; not love, not now, not _yet –_ but maybe something that could become love. Some closeness, some heat...she wants him, but she knows that is not enough.

She does _not_ know how close she strays already to a dangerous edge. Physical affection is wolfish and natural for Kouga. Because he is so calm, so comfortable, because it _is_ natural to him, it is easy for her to accommodate his urges – the little touches, the way his hands stray just the slightest bit, always smoothing themselves over her skin; the kiss...she would never kiss a human boy in her future that she had known for so little time, but Kouga is different.

_And I woke up with him -_

She knows she should be ashamed of that memory, but she can't help but cherish it – again and again, because each night when she slips away, tired and yawning, she ends up with at least one pup for a companion, and each morning, when she wakes, Kouga is there beside her.

The days become a week, and then two.

Twice a day, Kouga changes the bandages and the herbal poultice bound over her wound. By the end of the second week it is almost healed, but he is as careful as he was the very first day; she thinks it's cute. Kagome spends a great deal of time talking to Ginta and Hakkaku – Ginta, because he wants to pick her brain for knowledge of humans, and Hakkaku because he is jealous and wants to teach her of youkai as much as Ginta wants to know about men.

Kagome is grateful for the knowledge, and for something to do that doesn't need a lot of walking around. Still, by the time she is healed enough that even Kouga must agree it's safe for her to move about, Kagome is more than stir crazy; she is convinced that if she doesn't get to move around, doesn't get to leave the den, she's going to explode.

Accompanied by Kouga, she makes her way down the side of the river and then wanders into the forest with him close behind her. She exclaims at things he thinks are strange – flowers, insects, herbs; the sensation of _youki_ rising when a family of rabbit youkai scatters from their approach.

For his part, Kouga finds himself watching her even when he has no need to watch her; finds himself growing to treasure her presence more every day, though she does nothing to entice him. Perhaps that is why; her presence is clean and fresh and utterly new to him, and everything about her calls him forward in a way that he does not understand.

* * *

On the same day that Kouga proclaimed Kagome healed enough to wander, strange happenings began near Edo, the village of the old miko Kaede.

That morning, Kaede went to her sister's grave to make obeisance. It was a daily duty that she performed out of love; this morning, however, she found the grave disturbed, violated -broken! The grave marker was overturned, and the ashes and fragments of bone that had remained of her sister's body after her death were stolen – taken – gone!

No sign remained to show who had perpetrated the theft, but Kaede spent a long time that morning seeking natural or unnatural remnants of a presence, of anything that might give away the nature or the purpose of the one who committed such a blasphemous act. To rob the grave of a miko – and such a one as Kikyou had been!

“Who would want to do such a thing? What old enemy, what new power would take her remains – even down to the last speck of ash?”

Her eye hardens as she stares at the fallen marker, and her steps are slow but purposeful as she turns back to the village.

She mutters under her breath as she walks.

“Dark magic...black magic...some _witch..._ ”

* * *

In the depths of the forest, not too far from the Goshinboku, not too far from a certain well, an old hag bends grinning over a green-glowing sarcophagus. It holds a shape within it that is vaguely human, but limbless and faceless; it is made of clay that comes from grave soil and the bones and ashes stolen from Kikyou's grave.

The witches whisper summons power to attend her – summons life into the lifeless, summons a soul that has passed back to the world from whence it came. What comes is neither a body bearing the soul she calls, nor the sphere of light she is hoping for.

Instead, when she summons the soul of Kikyou, miko, woman fifty years dead, what comes to her spell is a piece of the shikon no tama; a shard of the sacred jewel. She is confused; it is to find such shards that she is creating this magic, and she doesn't understand why one would come now, when she is calling for a departed soul, but she knows better than to reject obvious truth when she sees it.

She reaches down, and places the shard at the heart of the clay shell.

Pink light grows enormous and swells around the green glow of the sarcophagus; there is a cracking, shattering sound, and when the light fades the witch lets out a breath and cackles her delight.

She speaks the end of the summoning, and Kikyou wakes once more to life.

“Kikyou! Miko! I called you back to life so that you might serve me – to find the shikon no tama and rejoin its shattered pieces, so that I might gain power; the greatest power! Power over all!

The witch points imperiously.

“I am Urasue, your mistress; now, do as I command and rise up, and begin to seek for the shikon no tama!”

“Shikon...no tama?”

Kikyou blinks once, twice, slowly. But for the brown eyes that are hers, uniquely hers, everything about her is an echo of Kagome – Kagome's face, Kagome's grace. She is...a twin. A doppelganger; confusion waiting to happen.

“Get up, you! You are to serve me, and I command -”

A high-pitched shriek tumbled out of Urasue's mouth. Bright as the sun, Kikyou's power flames pale and sudden.

When it is gone there is nothing; the wind has blown away the ash.

  
  


  
  



	33. Compos Mentis

She wanders alone.

_Who am I?_

Dressed in the garments of a miko, bearing a face that is shared now with another woman of whom she knows nothing, Kikyou wanders away from the place where she returned to life and into the deeper parts of the forest. The Goshinboku is at the center of a wide circle which she makes through the wood; youkai avoid her, and animals ignore her, and through sun and rain and darkness she walks at the same slow, dreamlike pace. She knows the name the witch addressed her by, it had come hard and cold into her consciousness; it had awoken nothing.

_Where did I come from?_

Sometimes her path brings her past the place where she woke to life, but that doesn't tell her where she came from and she knows it. As the days pass, the clay begins to vanish beneath the undergrowth; the green and glowing liquid that had surrounded her in the vessel had leaked away after only a few hours. Soon, nothing will be left to mark the place.

 _Why am I here_?

She had no answer for that at all; not even a hint of one. Just the words that the witch had spoken before she was consumed in Kikyou's power; just three words, words that seemed familiar though she she could not reason out why. Her mind was blank; empty. A wall existed high and tall inside her, over which could neither peer nor climb. It held back reality – her own reality, the _who_ that she wanted to know. What would break such a wall? She did not know. She knew only _shikon no tama_ , and a _feeling_ , which kept her moving in a radius tethered to the great tree and its sleeper.

 _Who am I_?

She keeps coming back to that one, all important question, but no answer is forthcoming; nothing breaches the wall of silence within herself. What she needs is _someone else_. Another person – someone who knows the answer...someone who could tell it to her, because the silence of the trees cannot. This presents a problem for her, because day or night she has not encountered another speaking being since she destroyed the witch.

“Perhaps I should not have done that...”

The words startle her, coming from her own lips; the sound of her own voice is as the sound of a stranger. She sighs, and looks up; the great tree is close, and she walks forward until it is in front of her; until she can reach out and touch the gnarled, ancient bark. To her surprise, she feels a _spark_. Something of herself; _power_. Like the power that is inside her even now...the power that had destroyed the witch. She walks around the base of the great tree, beyond the writhing border of its roots, and when she comes to the other side she stops, and stares.

“Sleeper...do I know you, sleeper?”

A boy, her age perhaps; his hair is white and moves in the faint breeze; there are dog ears on his head, soft looking, real; his robe is red and that too shifts as the air moves, but he is still – too still even for a sleeper. His face...his face makes something soft inside her; his face makes her feel a terrible sadness that she doesn't understand.

“The ears...of an Inu -”

The word gives her pause.

“Inu... _Inu_...Inu?”

A momentary flash – this boy in motion, incredible motion – she is looking down at him, looking at the back of his head; something rough is in in her hands. Red – robe?

“ _Inuyasha_.”

The name slips out of her lips. The wind rustles the leaves again, sets motes of dust blowing up in the wind. She looks at the boy, and she knows it is his name; she picks her way forward over the roots, and climbs up a little ways onto them, reaching out – she wants to touch that robe, she wants to know if it is what she was feeling, if that was a _memory_ -

_You are Inuyasha, but who am I?_

She stumbles forward and falls against the boy; against her cheek, the rough-softness of that robe is exactly as she...remembered it. In a blink she remembers _this_ , too – remembers falling once, remembers the warmth of his hands steadying her.

“Boy, wake up. Inuyasha – Inuyasha, wake up!”

She steps back a little, and reaches out to shake him, but she stops before she does, her eye on the arrow that holds him against the tree.

_The arrow._

Another blink, another memory. She feels the bow in her hands; she feels the knowledge that she is going to die soon, that if she must die she must take this one with her; she feels her heart breaking even as that thought finishes itself within her.

 _The arrow from...my bow_.

She reaches out her hand grasps it. Her heart thuds painfully within her; does she have a heart? Does it matter? She feels it all the same; feels it even as she feels the response of her own power, coming to life, waking from a sleep as deep as the boy's, turning the shaft of the arrow to white light. She yanks it free, and it erupts into sparkling dust, sparks away from her into the air and vanishes. She had braced herself to pull it free, and because there is suddenly nothing she falls backward, tumbles to the roots and looks up.

The boy blinks, and slips down the side of the tree, comes to rest on the balls of his feet. She smiles with relief to see it, and then speaks even as his mouth is opening, even as awareness is coming back into his brain.

“Inuyasha. You are Inuyasha. Please tell me, if you know me – please tell me, who am I?”

He scowls down at her, and she stares back at him with eyes so empty that even though he does not want to, he must believe that what she's saying is the truth.

“You don't remember – but you remember _me_?”

She nods.

“That is true, Inuyasha.”

“Yeah, I know who you are. I know who you are – you're _Kikyou_. The one they call the _shikon miko_. The one I thought actually loved me – before you shot me, and pinned me to this tree!”

“So Kikyou...is my name. The witch said it was, but I did not feel anything like believing her. You – I remember – I remember hearing my name in the sound of your voice. You...knew me.”

“ _Knew_ you? Did you lose your memory or just go insane, woman? I _know_ you now.”

“Yes, and you knew me _before_.”

“Before -”

She looks at him solemnly.

“Before I died.”

Inuyasha stares at her in shock. What kind of world has he woken into? How much time is it that has passed? _What is going on_ – that is what he wants to know – and he knows one place nearby that will be able to tell him.

“Before you – right. All right look, you're coming with me; there's a village near here that'll have the answers I want, and they'll take care of you, too. I don't – you aren't - you aren't my responsibility, all right? I've got – I've got other things to do than look after you.”

She stares at him, her face for a moment dark and emotionless; Kikyou as he remembers her, instead of the bland, strange expression that she has been wearing since he woke.

“I am more than capable of taking care of myself, Inuyasha. I have been doing so for several days.”

He looks at her, barefoot, her hair bedraggled from the rain, her clothes stained and a smudge of dirt across one cheek. He shakes his head; why is it that even knowing what it was that she did to him, he can't hate her? Because she doesn't remember?

He reaches out to rub the dirt off her cheek, and is surprised when she stands still and lets him.

“Just...just come on, Kikyou. The village isn't far; we'll walk.”


	34. Mos Maiorum

The very same day that she gets out of her confinement, Kagome finds herself back in it again, because that evening she collapses into unconsciousness from which Kouga cannot rouse her, and stays that way for almost four hours. It is the time during which Kikyou comes back to life, but she has no way of knowing that, and neither does Kouga – he assumes that she has overexerted herself and puts her back on bed rest for two days.

The morning of the third day, finding that stretching does not hurt and that she can even roll over without pain, Kagome insists that she be allowed out again – stomps her foot and flashes her eyes at him, speaks with such fire that he has to agree she certainly must be better. When nothing terrible happens that day or that night, Kouga begins to make plans for the following morning; it has been almost three weeks, and to wait any longer is to invite reprisals, the very thing that he wants most to avoid.

Thus it is that while Inuyasha wakes to confusion and sets himself on the way to the village of Edo, Kikyou trailing behind, Kouga takes the howling guard of his pack, and Kagome, and sets out on a journey of his own.

The wolves form a howling line that sniffs out trails of possibility in the wood; Kouga runs before them, Kagome on his back and Ginta and Hakkaku beside him. Three weeks have passed, but not in idleness; while Kagome healed, and many of his wolves with her – while Kagome learned about them, and they learned about her – Kouga has been running, every day, for many hours, learning the directions of his enemy's attack.

He knows where they came from now; the line of howling wolves are merely meant to frighten off any ambush, to make sure that there is no auxiliary force of foes lying in wait where they might escape the main thrust of Kouga's attack. The travel through the woods toward the northeast at great speed, though not _Kouga's_ greatest speed – the others could never keep up with that.

After a few hours, Kouga turns their run a bit further to the north. He is heading out of Echigo and its mountains, aiming for the Ou mountains, where the freshest and most numerous scent trails of the harpies led. There is something else there too, a dark stench...something rotten, something foul, a presence of _youki_ that seeps across the land full of evil intent. He had thought at first that it was only the harpies themselves, what they have done to the land they occupy – but it is not so. The twin leaders of the harpies are the most powerful of their kind, and this is a power still stronger, still more deadly.

He has considered his course carefully, in light of it; he will not go past the abode of the harpies and attack from the north, as was his first, best thought – instead, he will go by the coast and attack from the east. Only Ginta and Hakkaku know the fullness of his plan – and the potential danger that awaits them beyond the harpy's territory. To the wolves that follow, seething for battle, he has told only what they need to know to carry out their attack; to Kagome, clutching his back, a quiver of shining arrows on her own back and a bow she barely knows how to use clutched in her fingers, he has told even less.

They fly over the landscape, gain the crest of the long ridge that leads towards the mountains they are seeking, and then turn a sharp right, heading toward the eastern coast now.

The scent and presence of the harpies grows stronger. Kouga runs with a snarl on his face, a low growl rumbling through his body.

* * *

Kagome feels Kouga's growl even through the smooth metal of the armor over his back, and holds on tighter. She wants there to be no battle, but she knows there will be; she wishes desperately that she knew how to use the bow she is holding, that she could be of some use to Kouga beyond just using a sight that she doesn't understand.

_If I could be like a miko should be – if I had been trained – if I knew what I was doing with this bow, at least, if I had been in archery club or...or anything! I wish – I wish -_


	35. Dies Irae

As Kagome wishes, so does she become. As she wishes, so does she gain – though she does not know it, does not feel anything withing her changing to accommodate a new talent.

A momentary flicker of light encompasses her, that is all, bright enough to leave her blinking but not strong enough to make her worry. Kouga sees it too, but thinks nothing of it – she is miko, after all. He feels a faintly drained in the next instant, but he attributes the feeling to the pressure of Kagome's power and dismisses the thought. In five minutes he is his usual self again, and they are drawing close to the place where they will make their stand.

His steps are seamless; he increases his speed only a little bit, and moves out further in front of the line of wolves he has brought with him. The hope of secrecy is only a tiny hope; if these harpies have any warning system, even a single one among them paying attention, then even if the scent of wolf doesn't give their approach away the rising tide of _youki_ flowing into the Ou Mountains will.

Kagome's fingers tighten on his shoulders as he runs. There is no scent nor sound nor sight of their opponents, not a tingle of _youki_ or a flicker of dark omen in the sky. When the battle finally comes, it is sudden, all-encompassing, without transition. The wings beat down out of the sky and dive-bomb the line of wolves stretched across the wood. A screech of fury in a hundred voices comes riding down the wind, and Kouga turns so abruptly to avoid the claws of one harpy, reaching for the precious woman on his back, that she nearly goes flying.

A great howl goes up from the wolves behind him, led by Ginta and Hakkaku. The sound sends a tingling chill running down Kagome's spine, and she turns to watch as Kouga stops and scans the sky for his own particular foe. The two beta wolves divide the rest of their force between themselves. Wolves leap high in the air and come down on their prey in mid-air, or drive the diving birds aside into the waiting fangs of their comrades.

Kagome's eyes flash over red-muzzled wolves eye deep in feathered flesh; headless torsos that roll out of the sky and thud dead to the ground; blood streaked fur, grey and white and black and brown; wolves that leap up with a flash of shining fangs to snap at a foe hovering just near enough to torment, but not near enough to be grabbed.

Kouga's eyes are sharper, more tuned to the madness of battle, but Kagome doesn't need to know what she is looking for, doesn't need the face of her foe or even a sense of strong _youki_ to find the one she seeks. Her eyes pick out not the dual nature of the leader twins, or the screaming fury that is brighter on those twin faces than all the others combined. Instead she sees the pink flare of the shikon no tama, and flings her arm out and up, pointing.

“Kouga! There! I see the shard – the leader's there!”

He turns, and his eyes follow her pointing finger; he can't see the shard like she can, but his eyes are youkai-keen and he picks out the doubled figure of Jigoku and Jaaku where they hover in the air, beating their wings against the wind and sending forward waves of harpies against his pack.

Kouga leaps forward, gaining speed, his eyes on his quarry.

“Where's the shard, Kagome? Where in the body?”

She squints, and he feels her grip on his shoulders tighten as she pushes herself up a little on his back and leans forward.

“In the bird half! In the bird half, in the mouth! I think they swallowed it -”

Kouga snarls and then comes to a complete halt. He crouches, and Kagome hops off of his back and stand to one side. Immediately, six wolves detach themselves from the main body of the fighting pack and come to stand around her, growling, a protective detail with standing orders from Kouga to ensure she lives – even at the cost of their own lives.

They know only that her skills and talents make her special; that she has saved one of theirs from a certain death, and that this is the second time she will join in the fight of the pack against these harpies, their most recent enemy.

“Stay here, Kagome. If you can shoot those arrows – if you can purify some of these things – I won't complain, but make sure you stay _safe_ , got it? No one but you can see the shikon shards, and no one but you is my precious woman.”

He grins at her, and then he is off, running at the speed only he can achieve, leaping up into the air with singular focus and all his energy directed toward the kill.   


	36. Flagellum Dei

Kagome flushes at Kouga's words and hears the singing of his howl join the attacking wolf pack, and then plants her feet and grasps her bow and reaches for an arrow. She tries to psyche herself up, but it doesn't work; this is the first time she's ever tried to shoot anything, and though she knows the basics, just from growing up in a shrine, she's quite sure she has no chance of hitting anything and isn't sure she should try. What if she hits one of the wolves instead?

The battle makes the decision for her. The harpies see the group of wolves that has gone still around a human woman as invitation to attack; on defense and not offense, the wolves are at a disadvantage as their enemies attack from the sky, and Kagome stares up with wide eyes as the creatures dive at them, talons reaching, fangs bared and weapons raised for a deadly attack. A canine whine and half a bark sounds from behind her. The harpies cackle in cruel unison as one of them flies upward with a squirming wolf trapped in its talons.

Kagome doesn't think; she _moves_ – draws an arrow from the quiver on her back, nocks it to the string, draws it back against her cheek and fires. It is one smooth movement, a perfect, shining shot that sends her arrow curving in a high arc and then straight into the body of the harpy that has hold of the wolf that was protecting her.

The wolf falls from the ground, but only from fifteen feet or so in the air; for a youkai, such a drop is nothing, and panting, Kagome's protector runs back to her and takes up his place again with a nudge of gratitude, muzzle to knee.

Kagome can only stare at the bow in her hands, wondering what kind of magic it has been imbued with that makes _her_ such a perfect shot – but it has no power she can sense. Nothing like her own magic, and nothing like the shikon no tama, nothing of _youki_ , just a plain, wooden bow well strung with beeswaxed horsehair.

Her fingers linger hesitant on the bowstring. _How is it possible_? Something secret inside her? A talent she never knew she had? It sounds too strange to be true, but what else could explain what was happening? She was a miko by power, by birth....but not by training, and it was too much to hope for that the skills of a phenomenal archer came with the power itself!

But the questions and their potential answers would have to wait until later. For now, there was only a sense of gratitude, which lingered undirected as she considered the best way to offer her help. She sees Kouga, a darting figure in midair, involved in a battle of blows her eyes can't follow, so sharp and swift are they. She lays another arrow across the string, but doesn't dare to interfere in that swift and spinning fight. Instead, she aims for other harpies nearby; her arrows shoot straight and true, keeping back any of those who might interfere with Kouga's fight.

Here and there she sends a dart of blazing light to save other wolves that she notices in danger; again and again she draws a cool shaft through her fingers, smooths the feathered vanes and sights along the gleaming point. Again and again impossible shots hit their target; again and again, her eyes are drawn away from the flight of her own power and toward Kouga and the battle he is fighting alone in the sky.

* * *

Kouga stands on the air, but only ever for a moment at a time. It is _speed_ that keeps him in the air, not _youki_ or an inherent power; he only remains on the level of his foe as long as he is moving, and so he flashes from point to point faster than the eye can follow, even the bird-eyes of the harpy's leaders. When he is still, blue youki flashes from his claws and assaults the shikon hardened flesh of the great beast; his claws rake over it, seeking the softer skin of Jigoku and Jaaku's twin grey torsos. The weapons they wield don't touch him – can't – but neither can he make his way close enough to wound them through the shield that is sword and spear swinging in twin, deadly arcs.

Impatience is Kouga's greatest flaw; he does not _think_ , he _does_ , without considering the potential for terrible things. Like he did the first time he confronted them, Kouga stops on their very flesh, stand still on the rancid bird's body that holds their twin selves together. He feels a bite of pain – Jigoku's sword cutting into his thigh – and then a furious stab – Jaaku's spear darting into his flesh.

“First blood is ours, wolf!”

Kouga dodges the spear just enough that it pierces nothing vital, drives into his shoulder instead of his chest. There is pain – a throbbing agony – a slash of fire – but the pleasure...the pleasure is far greater. He grins, a terrible smile, and then reaches forward and grasps one throat in each of his hands.

“Stupid; really stupid – who cares about first blood? It's the last blood spilled that counts!”

He tightens his fists, and his claws cut into the pair of foul throats in tandem. A blazing light, one of Kagome's arrows, shoots by Kouga's face, an inch from his cheek, and passes between the two harpies to kill one of their subordinates; he is pleased beyond measure that Kagome is so able to take care of herself, and more pleased still that she knows better than to interfere in his fight.

Twin pulses throb against his fingertips.

Red blood spurts out over his hands.

He feels the tension of the weapons that still pierce his flesh go completely slack, and then tightens his claws again with a surge of _youki_.

A wail goes up from the harpies as the heads of their leaders tumbles off their necks in a splash of icy light and then fall to the ground. No more than lumps of flesh now, they bounce once and then are still.

The great mass of the twin's body falls heavy to the ground, and Kouga leaps clear and then stands, victorious; watches, as a great cry goes up among the harpies. Then they turn and begin to scatter and flee.


	37. Victori Spoliaque

Kouga howls his victory and is joined by the many voices of his pack. Here and there he sees fallen wolves, but many of them are still breathing. The few who have died will be honored, and he regrets there loss, but he knows the carnage would have been much worse. He turns and eyes Kagome; she is flushed and panting with battle-shock and adrenaline, but for her first real combat she has done well, well indeed. She far exceeds his expectation, and her skill with a bow is a welcome bonus.

He scowls briefly, considering that this is yet another debt that he owes the old miko Kaede, and then shrugs and smiles. If he has a chance, he'll repay her – and if not....well, she was only an old woman – not like his Kagome.

Kouga turns then to the body of the fallen leader at his feet. He is wary of it, despite the fact that the two torso's erupting from the foul flesh of the thing are headless. The shikon no tama makes him wary, and the fact that he knows it has increased his own regenerative powers a hundred fold. Still, the longer he waits, the greater the chance that something _irritating_ will happen. He bends, grim-faced, and pries open the fanged bird-mouth of the reeking body.

“Kagome, you said in here?”

She nods, watching him, faintly nauseous, unable to look away, and directs his reaching arm in the direction of the glow that only she can see.

“Further in – I know, I know, I'm sorry – yes, there; no, no, where you were a second ago. And _in_ -”

With a squelching noise the shard came free, and Kouga stepped backward and held it up to the light. It glittered darkly, a rich amaranthine glow that was very different from the shimmering pink of the other shards in his possession.

“It's been corrupted -”

Even through the blood, the glitter of it was sharp and drew him in.

“Kouga? Kouga, is that...the shard?”

But Kagome knew it was without having to ask; despite how it looked, the _feel_ of it was unmistakeable.

“Yeah; this is it. What do you think about the corruption; can you do something about it, Kagome?”

She stares at him.

“ _Me_? Why would I -”

“You're a _miko_ Kagome. You purify things; this is a thing, so...purify it.”

There was a stream nearby; Kouga could hear it. With the jewel shard held tightly in his fist, he makes his way west through the woods a little way until the found the water, and then rinses his hands and arms and the shard he holds. When it is clean he turns and tosses it to Kagome, who has followed him. It glints in the afternoon light as it falls into her hands, and in that moment he sees two things happen.

In her grasp, the shard of shikon no tama glows instantly, perfectly bright.

In the next moment, Kagome makes a sound of discomfort and shakes her hand wildly, but it does no good. In contact with her flesh, the shard is not to be disturbed from it's purpose, and in a moment the glowing pink bit of gem has vanished into her body. Kagome stares at the spot, and licks her lips, and then looks up and meets Kouga's eyes.

“I – I didn't mean for – I didn't know that – I didn't do _anything_ -”

And then her voice fades away.

“I – I'm sorry...”

Kouga only shakes his head and comes forward to grasp her hand, looking down at her hand where the shikon has vanished.

“I should've remembered – that's what happened before. When I found you. All the shards that were touching you were pulled into your body like that...anyway, don't worry about it. They're safer in you than in a bag.”

He said it so nonchalantly, but Kagome was more concerned. What was happening to her? This couldn't be normal – bits of some magic jewel sprinkled in her body, the sudden ability to wield a bow like a master, the fact that she hadn't had to _do_ anything to purify the jewel before it vanished. It had just...happened. _Why_?

She resolves to use the first chance she has to learn about her power, and what it can do; she wants to master it, so that there aren't any more surprises. If it's something other miko can do she doesn't need to feel like a freak, a monster.

Bleak thoughts came to her.

_Maybe that's why I don't mind youkai. I'm like them._

She tries to shake them off, and smiles when Kouga looks at her, but her heart feels heavy and more than she has since she first woke to the strangeness of this place, this _time_ , she is homesick, heartsick, misses her mother and her brother and even her grandfather's most boring stories.

“Kagome? What's wrong, Kagome?”

She turns to see Kouga looking at her with concern, and can't help but smile. She misses home, and she has her worries...but at least there are compensations.

She reaches out her hand for Kouga's and tugs him along until he falls into step beside her.

“I'm alright, Kouga. I was just missing home, but I'm alright.”

“Kagome...”

His fingers tighten on her hand, and the lingering throb of the shikon no tama is washed away in the warmth of his grasp.


	38. Sub Divo

Kouga brings Kagome back to the den, and the victorious wolves come howling after him, crying out their victory for all to hear. Celebration is inevitable; though many were wounded, only a few have died, and now the pack is safe. Under the light of the growing moon, the sound of the pack takes on an eerie fullness that Kagome has heard before, even in her time, but only in recordings that pale beside the truth.

One after another the high, clear voices rise up and mingle, creating harmonies that fade and then resume, over and over, without ever falling into silence. While the fighters were with Kouga, destroying the harpies, some of the wolves left behind had gone hunting, and now their kills are meat for the feast that celebrates the victory of the pack. Males and females, pups and elders, wolf-shaped and human-shaped and some in-between, Kagome watches as the feast becomes a great dance, a dance without steps or with steps that everyone knows and yet never learned.

An overturned bowl becomes a drum, beating a hollow, thudding staccato into the night. From somewhere, a flute is produced that wails over the drums, clear and high and lovely. A female sings, her voice half howl and half words, all beautiful; midnight comes, and passes, and still the dance winds on.

In the midst of the pack, Kagome moves, lightened by wolf-wine and the wildness of this night and the battle that preceded it. She dances with Ginta and Hakkaku, laughing at the silliness of some of their movements; she dances with the pups, which is more of a test of how well she can keep from tripping over them than a dance.

Finally, she dances with Kouga. She is too drawn in by his eyes, the fire flashing in them, the red reflections in the blue, to notice the way a space clears around them. He pulls her toward him and holds her flush against his body, his hands on her arms, their arms outstretched together.

For the celebration, he has forgone his armor; he is dressed in white fur, not brown, and his hair is down around his shoulders, soft as ebony silk where it brushes Kagome's skin. She, too, is dressed in fur, a skirt and bandeau beaded with amber and ivory – Sho's mother had given it to her, one of many gifts of clothing that had come from the females of the pack.

Kouga draws his fingers up her arms and makes her shiver, bends to her ear and speaks for only her to hear him.

“Do as I do, Kagome.”

She nods, smiling, and mimics the movements he makes when he steps away from her. She becomes his mirror, and Kouga is impressed with the flow of her movements, the elegance of them, soft as shadow. His lifted arm and hers are as an echo; when he steps forward, so does she. They turn together, cheek to cheek; Kouga's fingers run over her scalp through her unbound hair, across her shoulders, and she does not hesitate to do the same to him.

It is his turn to shiver. His hands continue down her arms, over her wrists, until they are standing palm to palm, still now, only their hearts moving with a beat that matches the speed of the thudding drums. Flicker of fire, flicker of eyes. Skin against skin, and the heat of the fire dancing in waves to match their turns, the pounding of their feet in the dust, their spinning; head thrown back, eyes glowing, skin shining, dressed like one of them and laughing like a wild thing, Kagome might have been mistaken for a wolf herself.

Teasing, Kouga called out a flare of power and sent it outward to lick at Kagome's skin. It brushed her with heat, but did not burn; that was not his intention. Kagome laughed, and as if it were natural to her, something she had known all along, she continued her mimicry even with this, and made her power dance.

The sight was strange and lovely; _youki_ the color of glacial ice flowing back and forth, and through it, weaving, blending, beautiful, the soft pink glow of Kagome's power flowed too. Murmurs and whispers arose among the watching wolves. Many stopped dancing just to stare, and so it was that almost all of them saw when Kagome and Kouga drew close together again, eyes flashing, breath heaving, and Kouga bent and kissed her.

As he did so, the streaming light became one great river. Kagome let out a breath, and then reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers through his hair.

This was different, very different, from that first, momentary kiss. She felt a _fire_ within him, a fire that burned her lips and tongue where his mouth touched her. There was an answering fire inside her, just as raw, just as powerful, and for a moment, just a moment, when his tongue stroked her tongue and she felt the near, sweltering heat of his body, she was afraid it would overwhelm her.

Then he stepped back and looked down at her, and his eyes were dark as the sea.

“You dance _well_ , Kagome.”

He held out a hand to her, and she took it, and he lifted her hand to his lips and pressed them against the center of her palm, and then her wrist.

“Very well.”


	39. Sic Infit

It is still light when Inuyasha reaches the outskirts of Edo, and when he does he sends shouts of terror out across the village before him. Dark memories flicker at the edges of his consciousness. The last time he was in this place – the last time – betrayal. Fury. Grief. _Sleep_. That endless, terrible sleep; terrible because while he was in it, he ceased to exist at all – because while he was in it, his whole being was engulfed in silence.

Kikyou trails a few steps behind him, as she has the whole way. At the edge of the village, when it is first visible, she stands and stares and sways until Inuyasha almost says something, but he turns away and shrugs, scowling, and continues forward. It is several minutes later before he hears her footsteps following him again. Almost unconsciously, he slows to allow her to catch up, and then curses himself for doing so.

Habit. Habit, because she is the woman he loved and the woman who sealed him and he doesn't know what to feel. Habit, though he can _smell_ death in her – not on her, but _in_ her, as if the essence of decay had been sealed into her flesh.

“ _You knew me before_ ,” she had said. Before she died....

Inuyasha shakes his head and continues stolidly forward. He ignores the screams of the villagers and the weapons that are held in shaking hands and directed toward him. He almost – almost – snorts with laughter when the first one among them recognizes _her_ , and speaks her name, and lets his weapons fall in utter confusion.

The man runs off to find Kaede, and Inuyasha stops then and stands in the middle of the road, arms crossed over his chest, and waits.

* * *

Kaede comes slowly, hobbling her way along from her own house. She is certain the man who summoned her is just over reacting; that Kouga and Kagome have come back, rather than Inuyasha and Kikyou. How could that even be!

In the back of her mind is the knowledge that her sister's grab has been robbed, her mortal remains stolen – that the shikon no tama is loose in the world again, in the possession of a girl who walks by the side of a demon without worry, as if the old story is to repeat itself all over again.

She shakes her head, and then looks up and stops dead in the road, staring.

“Inu – Inuyasha – Kikyou-onee-sama -”

Kikyou says nothing at first, stares at her with mild interest, her expression mostly blank, her eyes empty of the fire that Kaede remembers in her sister. And then:

“I'm sorry; your words say you're my sister, but I don't remember you.”

And then it was Inuyasha's turn to stare at what had become of the little girl who had stood beside her sister as she shot him, bleeding -

“ _Kaede_? Little Kaede? That's really – that's really you?”

She is hunchbacked and wrinkled and white-haired, but her eye – her wounded, missing eye is the same and her scent, too, carries the same core as it did then.

“Aye, it's me, Inuyasha – though I can't say I'm glad to see you. What are you doing here? Why are you with my sister – and why is she alive?”

Wordlessly, Inuyasha shakes his head, and Kaede sighs.

“Of course you don't know. Well, follow me – but I warn you, I'm not as helpless as I look.”

Inuyasha made a noncommittal noise.

* * *

It was the matter of a few hours talk before Inuyasha had everything straight in his head, or as straight as could be, considering the scarcity of information. Kikyou's grave had been robbed; now Kikyou lived, though by her own admission she remembered very little of her previous lifetime. Most of what she _did_ remember was connected to Inuyasha. Privately, Kaede considering this unsurprising; she had been too young to question things when they had happened, but in the years since she had had time to think on the past, and the story as it appeared made no sense to her.

She explained the visits she had received from Kouga – explained the presence of the girl, Kagome, who bore the shikon no tama and hints of strange power and a miko's strength. She hesitated on the edge of describing her appearance, the way she looked like Kikyou's twin, but decided that withholding information would do more harm than good.

Finally, Inuyasha asked for advice – though not politely.

“So what do I do, old woman? She's _your_ sister, why do I have to take care of her! I've got no love for her now; you know what she did to me!”

“Because she thought you betrayed her, Inuyasha! You say you did not, and I am willing to believe you – for now – but she must have had a compelling reason to think so, or she wouldn't have acted. In the end, she paid the worse price – she died; you only slept. Now you are awake again, and she is here beside you, reborn, and you are all she remembers of what came before. If she stays beside you, she has the best chance of remembering who she was.”

“I still don't -”

“Do not forget, Inuyasha! You have claimed a desire to seek the shikon no tama, scattered in fragments though it might be. You will need Kikyou or someone like her; you will need a miko to see the shards! Go out and find them, and find my sister's memory, too. Find out the truth of what happened to bring her back to life, and maybe you will find out what it was that broke the trust between you fifty years ago! That is your task; that is all the help I can give you.”

* * *

 _Something_ is growing in Echigo, between Kouga, Wolf Alpha, and Kagome, a miko out of time. Hints of that something echo across the land, because the whole pack has seen them together now and because there is nothing secret about the way that Kouga feels. Many voices are now speaking about the shikon no tama, and those who have found it, and where that energy is strongest now, concentrated all in one place. Many voices are speaking, and certain ears are listening with all their might, gathering information about a treasure once thought forever lost.

 _Something_ is also growing in Edo, between Inuyasha, the Sleeper who was Awakened, and Kikyou...who is also a miko out of time, though less so. They have their own difficulties, not the least of which is the task laid upon them by Kikyou's sister. Old Kaede knows the difference between the sister who died and this new _creature_ that is wandering the earth, but even so she cannot bring herself to condemn her sister when Kikyou barely knows her own name.

 _Someone_ has heard that the miko Kikyou has been seen to walk again, not once, but twice – the same someone who has begun to take note of the Wolf and his pack.

In the dim north beyond the Ou Mountains, the north Kouga had refused to tread because of a terrible presence and a dark miasma, that _someone_ has made himself a home, and is waiting. He has been waiting for fifty years, and now that waiting has born fruit. He can sense the woman he wants, and the treasure she hid from him in the only place he could not reach – the afterlife.

Red eyes glow dark in the dimness of a palace obscured by foul mists, and a pale mouth smiles and then opens to let out a hiss of terrible purpose.

“Soon – _soon_! The waiting is almost over now.”

His flesh is human shaped, but his shadow writhes on the wall like a monstrous creature barely restrained.

* * *


	40. Fundamenta Inconcussa

XL

Fundamenta Inconcussa

  
  


The morning after the celebration, Kouga wakes from a light doze and wraps his arms around the now-familiar shape sleeping beside him. Kagome doesn't turn or wake, just snuggles closer to him and rubs her cheek against the fur beneath her. He strokes her hair, softly, gently; he doesn't want to wake her but he can't help but touch her.

 _Kagome_. He rubs a few long tendrils of her hair against his cheek, thinks about how beautiful she is, how free – nothing like any human he's ever seen before, nothing like any miko. Brilliant, her power...and her nature wild, untamed, unwilling to be imprisoned by expectations, good or bad. Powerful, and beautiful, she has accepted his pack and his pack has accepted her.

The image of her in the dances flashes in front of his eyes; the way she had moved to mirror him, reading his body, his face, responding to his mischief, backing away from nothing, laughing, always laughing -

He rubs his cheeks against her shoulders, her back, the soft spread of her hair – scent marks, even though they're no longer necessary; his scent is a living part of her skin, now. It comes from sleeping beside her every night, even if only a few hours; it comes from the way she follows him, learning, a little shy...

_Kagome._

Somehow, without him noticing, the feeling of his desire to possess this woman for his own has grown. Is still, in fact, growing. Kouga comes to the realization that he would rather lose everything else he possesses than continue to possess it and live by himself – live alone – without her.

_So I love her. I do – I do love her. Kagome, my woman – beautiful shikon woman._

“Mmph...Kouga? Kouga...oh...good.”

While he is lost in thought Kagome wakes fully and turns in the circle of his arms to face him, wiggling until she's gained the position she wants. He looks down at her with unusual warmth in his blue eyes, and Kagome flushes. She remembers the dancing just as well as he does – the euphoria, the adrenaline rush, the feeling of wildness transmitted to her through the howling, spinning wildness of the pack in their celebration.

She remembers his kiss, most of all his kiss – the heat of it, no softness, many promises – his kiss. She licks her lips, and her eyes focus on his mouth as the left corner quirks upward.

“Good, Kagome?”

She nods, and rubs her face against his chest.

“Yes, good. It's nice when you're still here when I wake up.”

She is gaining wolfish habits. It pleases him, and at first she did it for that reason, learning a little at a time how to say thank you his way. Now it is natural to her, just like sleeping beside him is natural. It had been hard at first, awkward, but despite the fact that she thinks he desires her, there is nothing lustful about the way he curls himself around her, a protective, living blanket of wolf fur.

Some mornings he is gone before she wakes, and she misses him then – the little bit of cuddling she gets before he leaves her to dress, the early morning conversation, the way he likes to rub against her. She knows it's just marking, but she still likes it – likes it more because of that, likes the thought of _his_ , and how he can claim her while still letting her do as she pleases.

This morning, her face is flushed, her scent warm with memory. Kouga likes it; he likes everything that implies her feelings for him are growing. His fingers wander down her sides, tickling the exposed skin between bandeau and skirt. Her skin is pale, her summer tan faded after her weeks recovering in the den; he traces odd shapes here and there where the shikon shards left scars as they hid in their flesh. His fingers stop at her hip, tracing a crescent there.

 _Odd_.

Again and again, his fingers move over the same spot until Kagome pushes herself up on her elbow and looks down her side at where he's touching her.

“Is there something there, Kouga?”

“Huh? Oh – one of those shikon scars. From when I found you. But I could've sworn...”

He moves his fingers away and points.

“That crescent there, I could've sworn there were three crescent marks, one over the other, sort of...overlapping a bit. There's only one now; I don't...huh. I must've seen it wrong or something the first time and just thought there were three.”

Kagome blinks at him.

“Oh. Well, that's alright then. It's not like the shards are going anywhere, it'd probably hurt if they were moving around inside me or something.”

She looks vaguely queasy at the thought, and rolls over and swings her legs over the edge of the ledge.

“What are we doing today, Kouga?”

He grins at her.

“Well, we won our battle – there's no trouble here...you want to come hunting with me, Kagome? Either that or I bet Ginta and Hakkaku will track you down again -”

Kagome hurries to stand and stretch, as if to prove how active and ready she is.

“Oh, yes! Hunting! Sure!”

She casts an apologetic glance Kouga's way.

“Not that I'm not grateful, but I _really_ don't want any lessons today.”

He laughs.

“You'll be safe with me, Kagome.”

He crosses the room with smooth, swift steps. He has her in his arms in the next instant, his claws a prickle of danger against her back.

“Though you might not be safe _from_ me.”

His eyes flash blue and gold and scatter the light. Kagome shivers, but she is brave and stubborn and she _likes_ him – trusts him – she does not look away.

“That's okay.”

There is half a step between them, and then she moves forward and there is none.

“I trust you, Kouga.”

She leans up on her tiptoes, and lays a hand on either side of his face, and then kisses him softly, a mere brush of the lips.

Her heart pounds furiously; a dark, crimson blush paints her cheeks.

“I trust you.”

It comes out as barely a whisper; the most beautiful whisper he's ever heard.


	41. Experientia Docet

The wood is a wilderness, with all the wild still in it. The sun gleams bronze on Kouga's shoulders as he moves through the underbrush, his eyes darting left and right, seeking prey, and Kagome feels his skin hot beneath her fingertips, his bare back warmed by her body, his hands strong and hot against her thighs.

The sun beats on her back, and she stifles her breath, tries to hold back the sound of her heartbeat, says not a word to Kouga, so as not to disrupt his chances. He runs swift and soundless through the undergrowth, and when he finally catches sight of something he thinks is acceptable prey, he leans with his whole body in that direction and turns his head back to whisper in inhumanly soft tones.

“ _There_. _To the right._ _Buck and two does._ ”

Kagome turns and shivers as she does so. Kouga is slow to move, and his lips brush faintly over her throat. She draws in a quick breath, and then covers her mouth with her hands. She can see them, the buck's antlers dusky in the light that comes through the trees, the brown coats glistening, the dewy eyes fearless, no sense in them that a predator is a leap away from ending their lives.

As soundless as he had been running, Kouga lets Kagome down from his back, behind the screening presence of the undergrowth. She crouches there, feels her heart beginning to race; she stares at Kouga and then the deer – and then at Kouga again.

He wears only a leather loincloth fringed with fur to hunt; her eyes trace the indentations of lean, smooth muscle in his back, his arms, his abdomen as he turns -

She blushes when she realizes what she is doing, but then he is in motion and her eyes grow wide. The pupils dilate, drinking in the scene; her heart races; her breath comes shallow and fast. She sees Kouga in _blinks_ ; he disappears from her vision when he moves, but she can follow the presence of the shards he carries and she sees him still for a single instant -

Then he strikes. His arm is a line of shadow that gleams gold in a single ray of sunlight. His claws slash, once, perfect, a clean cut across the throat of the buck. The animal drops; it makes no death cry. The baying of the stag is silenced on an indrawn breath. The two does are already turning when Kouga comes to them, but Kagome watches him grasp one about the throat and then just at quickly let her go and turn to the other.

The second doe he kills, as easily as the buck, while the other runs away as swift as four legs can carry her.

“Kagome, you can come out now.”

Slowly, picking her way across the forest floor, missing the spots where it is sprayed with steaming blood, Kagome makes her way to Kouga's side. He is breathing fast, but not from exertion; just the excitement of the kill, the euphoria of the hunt. She comes close to him and reaches out one hand to touch his chest; she can't help herself, must know that the pounding of his heart is something close to the pounding within her.

“Kouga you – you're so fast -”

“Yes. Because you came, and brought me the shikon no tama...not that wasn't a good hunter before, mind you.”

She grins.

“Of course. I'd never even think it. Can you – can you carry these home and me too?”

Kouga eyes his kill critically, and then smiles and shrugs.

“Yeah. Probably. But I'm not going to – didn't you know, Kagome? A wolf never hunts alone. His pack is always beside him!”

He opens his mouth and an eerie howl comes out of his throat; the Great Wolf's cry. From around them, dashing, panting, wriggling rapturously at the cry of their Alpha, lapping at the slain deers' blood, comes the wolves. A few come forward in human shape and slit the stomachs of the deer on a long, clean line from anus to gaping throat. Careful fingers and claws part the skin from the carcass and open a wound to remove the offal without puncturing the gut.

Nauseated, fascinated, Kagome watches, can't turn away. Her eyes lock with the eyes of the buck; a strong and beautiful creature who had succumbed to the final promise of nature's cycle.

“Kouga...Kouga, why did you let the first doe go?”

Kouga shrugs.

“She was pregnant; she'll give birth soon. Better to let the cycle of life continue on. Two's enough, considering.”

Kagome nods, and then backs away and bows formally, in thanks.

Kouga watches her, interested; her gratitude is not meant for him, but for the deer. He appreciates her meaning; he is youkai, and these are his lands, and respect for them, for the nature that endows them, is respect for him. He is youkai, and that is not much different from kami. Not here. Not on the earth that sustains and empowers him; not on the land upon which he has lived, growing and gaining strength, it's wolf protector.

It doesn't take long for the pack to finish its work, and when they are finished they wrap the butchered carcass of the two deer, each in its own hide, and vanish into the trees, moving toward the den. Kagome watches them go. One moment they are visible to her – and the next they are not.

She turns to Kouga and smiles.

“What next?”

His lips move slowly, spreading a grin across his face that Kagome feels as if someone has suddenly grasped her heart in her chest.

“The hunt is only beginning, Kagome. That was just a warm up.”


	42. Utrinque Paratus

It is late in the evening when they return to the den, Kagome dozing with her head against Kouga's shoulder. Not only deer, but boar and rabbits and birds snatched out of the air did he hunt; strong, fast, agile, she's never seen anyone move like him.

She doesn't know that was the point.

Kouga is doing everything he can to impress her, everything he can think of to prove that no one else could provide for her like he can. He has shown her his skill, his great talents – that he is an excellent hunter, a great war leader, that he can protect and that he fight...and that he can be merciful. That he knows to respect the cycle that sustains him, of which he is a part and over which he rules.

He is on the age of declaring his intentions openly, but something of innocence in her still prevents him; the way she desires without knowing fully what she desires, the way she steps toward him and then always steps back.

What would she say if he told her loved her; that he wanted to mate her – to make her his – to keep her for all time?

What would she say, Kagome...his miko, alone, away from her family, no one to rely one but him, no one else to...trust?

 _What would she say_?

It's only that he doesn't know yet that restrains him.

The moment she'll say yes, he thinks to himself. The moment she'll say yes, and I'm sure of it – that's when I'll ask her.

Kouga is still afraid that he might scare her; afraid that if he scares her, she'll run away.

_Where would she go?_

But as soon as he thinks it, he realizes it wouldn't matter; Kouga knows Kagome well enough now to know that she would just _run_ , without thinking – that she would run until she was hopelessly lost, until maybe even he couldn't find her.

“ _But the moment you'll say yes, Kagome -_ ”

And if that night he holds her more tightly, demands from her a _goodnight kiss_ – well, that is just his due; she can't object to that. She doesn't.

He feels the heat of her blush and smiles to himself in the darkness.

It is not long before she falls asleep; not long before she is still and quiet against him, her breathing a low murmur, her heart a lower murmur still. The sound throbs at him. He considers what he should do tomorrow; he thinks about the ways she can begin to contribute, besides fighting – besides risking herself beside him.

He knows that she will not possess the skills that a human woman of his own time might posses - what she has told him of her future, its ease and luxury, tells him this; her own softness, her own fascination with the world that is as natural to him as breathing – that tells him more. She is a healer by nature...a weapon against his world...but she is helping him. And then there is that more elusive gift which she has not yet recognized; _the future_. She knows what is coming...

When she is deep asleep, Kouga presses his lips to her shoulder and then leaves the furs behind her, wanders out to stand in front of the den and stare at the moon. It is luminous, enormous, and it tugs at him; he hears the voices of his pack as the run wild beneath the bright, silver light, and promises himself that the next full moon he will not run alone.

Kouga vanishes. The Wolf takes his place. Ookami, Alpha, the greatest of his kind, he lets out a ringing howl and leaps down from the high rocks and across the river to the trees.

He joins the pack as it runs, chasing down the moon.

* * *

Alone in the mountains, his face to the north, a single man sits alone and sighs and shifts himself a little closer to his fire. The moon is full overhead, a luminous eye peering down at him, watchful and bright, and he draws the silk of his priestly robes closer to his body; the night is chill. Autumn is deep, and at night the wind wears the first cutting edge of winter.

He hears wolves howling, and sighs.

“Not too close, but not too far away, either.”

He hears a greater howl, something more than a mortal wolf could make, and feels an eerie tingle crawl across his back.

_Youkai!_

The power he carries tells him so, and he clenches his right fist, feels the beads there, the solemn promise of them, feels the leaking energy of the terrible wind that is bound behind their enchantment.

He looks up and his violet eyes peer out into the darkness.

“No sleep for me tonight...”

His name is Miroku, and he is a servant of Buddha.

In a glass vial, which he carries deep in his robes, he carries two fragments of the shikon no tama. He is following a rumor that will take him to another; the rumor of a _bakeneko_ , a terrible beast, burning its way through the forests north of Echigo unchecked. There have also been Neko in the north, just like there have always been Inu in the west and Ookami in the south and east. The rumors have attracted him because they speak of new and sudden power, where before there was only the usual beasts.

“Shikon no tama...it must be.”

He desires not the gem itself, but the enemy he knows he will one day encounter if he keeps following it.

“Assuming the wolves don't eat me first...”

He settles in for the night, the fire before him, and his back against a tree.


	43. Sancta Simplicitas

Kagome wakes early the next morning, not alone – there are always a few pups snuggled into her bed somewhere – but without Kouga behind her. She is disappointed, but also a little pleased; she needs some time to get her head on straight and try to figure out what this _thing_ is that is growing between her and Kouga.

She is aware that if she were in her own time she would never get away with something as intimate as sleeping in a boy's bed, that she is crossing dangerous lines with _good night kisses_ and _good morning kisses_ \- with kisses in general, really.  
At the same time, despite the recommendations of good sense, she has no desire to stop; wants more, not less, even though she knows that it is far too soon to give in to such wants. She knows that he desires her; she's felt the hardness of his arousal prodding her back in the night, in the early morning; she's tasted needs and desires in those kisses, more and more frequent.

She's said nothing – because what is there to say? It would be awkward, and truth be told she _likes_ the attention. She likes knowing that he wants her – that he finds her desirable, that his body reacts to her...

Kagome's cheeks flush and grow warm, and she tries to push the thoughts from her head. What is she doing! Kouga is the one who saved her...the one who is taking care of her despite the fact that she's mostly useless.

“Like a baby – I have to learn everything from the beginning -”

She gnaws at her lower lip and contemplates her limited knowledge.

“I don't know anything about hunting, or tracking, or tactics, or how to do things in the wild...I can barely make a campfire with _matches_.”

Kagome lets her head thump back against the fur that serves as her pillow, and sighs a little.

“Well at least I can shoot the _hama no ya_ , a nice miracle that was. And I can help Kouga if there's fighting, I suppose; he'll need me, if more youkai with shards attack.”

Her quiet musing are interrupted by a yawn, and Kagome looks up and sees Kouga; he looks tired, and the yawn is his, and she's surprised by this. He sleeps with her sometimes but she's never seen him show any sign of fatigue. He crosses the room swiftly and slips behind her, and it is reflex now to turn and press her lips against his mouth, to rub her cheek against his cheek.

“Good morning, Kouga.”

“Morning, Kagome.”

His fingers stroke her cheek and then slip down her arm and hook around her waist. She falls back against his side and rolls into his embrace, and Kouga pushes her bangs out of her eyes and then leans against her with a sigh.

“That was a long night; I'm glad you're still in bed.”

Kagome blinks at him.

“Long night?”

“It was the first night of the full moon last night; a running night. We went far to the north, and found someone interesting while we were out there. Well -”

Kouga grins.

“At least I think he's interesting.”

Kagome smiles and shrugs as much as she can in Kouga's arms.

“So when do I get to met this _interesting_ person, Kouga?”

Her eyes close, and she breathes his warmth. Kouga smiles, and she doesn't see the feral nature of it, the fangs that gleam down at her. She feels only his arms tightening around her and the warmth of the furs.

“You can meet him later, if you want to. He'll be alive at least until I wake up again.”

“Ali...what?”

His eyes are already closed. He moves down at nuzzles against her throat.

“Later, Kagome. Sleep with me now, for a little while.”

“I was just asleep, you know -”

“Just -”

He yawns.

“Just a little while.”

His arms tighten around her, and Kagome wiggles to make herself comfortable.

“Alright. A little while.”

Despite herself, Kagome dozes off before he does.

* * *

_Well, I guess this is the penalty for staying up two nights in a row with those women, but what man could resist? Still, it's a bit of a hassle. Not a total loss, though_ , _at least I'm still alive._

In a dark, damp chamber of the wolves den, Miroku sits tied with leather thongs at the wrist and ankle. He had fallen asleep against his tree, and the wolves had found him there, had smelled the scent of his fire or the scent of a lone human in the woods. Belatedly, he had realized that his danger was inevitable; that he should have at least climbed a tree, or found a more defensible position.

They'd caught him without trying, before he could even think about fighting back. The leader – the big wolf, who had become the cocky blue-eyed bastard with the insufferable smirk - had scented out the shikon shards that Miroku had hidden in his robe, and taken them away. He'd been brought here, tied up and dropped in the darkness...but he hadn't been searched other than for the shards, and Miroku hadn't survived this long without having a few literal _tricks_ up his sleeves.

When he has been alone for nearly an hour, and the sounds from outside have faded to silence, Miroku wiggles his arm until the tiny blade he keeps in a sheath on his forearm drops out of place and into the cupped palm of his left hand. A little at a time he wiggles the edge of the blade into contact with the leather thongs that bind him, and then begins to saw at them, back and forth.

A little at a time, the thongs part and come free. Miroku stretches, and rubs some life back into his arms, and then bends and cuts the bonds holding his ankles. Slowly at first, then with some vigor, Miroku stands and stretches again. He wants his shikon shards back, mostly because it isn't be safe for that wolf to keep them, but also because he needs a lure, something to draw his old enemy to him.

“I suppose I'll have to take them back.”

Miroku grins, and grips his right hand tightly around the beads that still his fearful power.

“They caught me unawares, last time – this time they've got no idea what they're dealing with!”

The guard outside is easy to dispose of. One hard strike to the back of the neck and he falls to the ground without a sound; Miroku finds his staff beside the fallen guard in a niche and takes it. He stills the jangling rings with one hand and turnsto face the empty passage in front of him.

“It would help if I knew which way was out -”

He shrugs and sighs and turns back and forth. Right – left – right -

He takes the left hand passage, and unwittingly moves deeper into the den.

* * *

A/N: And there you have it my dears, after a long bit of waiting, for which I apologize, we are now back on track for daily updates. My old laptop died, and this new one only arrived the day before yesterday; it took a while to get all the files and fwooms transferred, but all is well now as you can see! I hope you enjoyed the chapter; the title, “Sancta Simplicitas”, translates to “Holy Innocence”. A bit of pun, really...because Kagome is thinking of moving out of her innocence and Miroku...well. We all know that the meaning of hentai lives on in him. See you tomorrow, and

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	44. Sine Metu

In complete silence, wrapping himself in thoughts of utter stealth, Miroku moves deeper and deeper into the wolves' den, praying as he does so that he's on his way out into the forest. He meets no one, hears not a sound, and dares barely even to breathe when he sees the faint, dim glow of daylight ahead of him and quickens his footsteps just a little.

He takes four steps into a great, open cavern, and sees that he's made a terrible, terrible mistake – because this is not the exit, it is a chamber into which the daylight filters faintly from high in the ceiling...and it is a dead end.

He hears his heartbeat pound suddenly loud in his ears. Senses attuned to deadly powers warn him too late that he has come upon the terrible wolf that captured him – the leader, greater than all the others. This is exactly the opposite of what he'd wanted. He'd wanted time to regroup, to get his bearings, to make some strategy and catch this cocky wolf on his own terms -

Instead he'd gone straight to the heart of the den. Already, he sees blue eyes staring at him from across the room, hears a low growl and listens to it grow into throbbing thunder. A dozen other pairs of eyes light up in the dimness at the sound, and Miroku hears an indrawn breath, a low female voice that surprises him because it sounds _human_.

“What's – going on? What's going on -”

But there are only growls in answer, no words, and with a pulse of light and power the humanoid shadow of the wolf-leader leaps toward Miroku, becoming wolf-shaped as it moves toward him. There isn't much space for him to move in, but Miroku darts to the side and manages to avoid the wolf's first charge. Something nips at his heels, and he sees a wolf, a little pup, and then stumbles over another. He moves to kick them out of the way, one eye on the great wolf's snarling muzzle, but a shout stops him – the woman.

“No – don't hurt them!”

Miroku watches a flash of woman move from a fur covered- ledge in front of him to the floor beside him; his impressions are limited by the danger of these moments but what he sees pleases him _greatly_ – pale skin faintly tanned by time in the sun, dark hair in luxuriant, unbound tresses...blue eyes, snapping with fire.

She cradles the pups in her hands and pushes them behind her body, looks across at the wolf and speaks to him.

“Is this the _interesting stranger_ you found, Kouga?”

 _Kouga_. Miroku contemplates the name but it means nothing to him. He files it away for later. He hears a growling terror of a voice come raging out of the wolf, and swallows.

“I _thought_ he was interesting. I should have let the pups eat him!”

The great red tongue lolls out of the wolf's mouth. The woman takes on a stern expression, shakes her head, but Miroku's eyes dart down to the panting pups, red gleam in their eyes now, tiny fangs exposed, all snarl and the desire to be dangerous. He hears a low growling laugh and looks up and sees that the wolf's eyes are on him. Miroku knows that this Kouga knows what he was thinking -

Then the wolf steps forward, laving his jaws with that red tongue, and Miroku feels panic approaching. He fumbles in his sleeve after a shocked moment of stillness and finds what he is looking for; he steps back and throws forward at the same moment, and the _ofuda_ he has thrown bursts into fire as it travels and strikes Kouga on the shoulder. The wolf snarls at the burning, but the _ofuda_ sticks, becomes darker – it's a precious bit of a paper, one that cost Miroku a pretty penny, but he's been saving it for just such an emergency as this. With one hand, Miroku reaches out for the woman's arm and jerks her upright, pulls her against his body. With the other, he grips his staff, and then he turns and tries to run.

Tries, because the woman pulls against him with all her strength, twists and beats at him and then reaches for the wolf.

“Let me go – let me go, whoever you are! Kouga – Kouga!”

Pink energy leaks from her skin in her distress, a wash of sweet-scented power that Miroku recognizes immediately. _Miko_! And a powerful one, too -

The woman's clenched fist collides with the side of his head, and Miroku is momentarily senseless. His grip on her other wrist loosens, and the women flies from him to the wolf, howling now with pain. The flame Miroku has infected him with is a flame that will burn using Kouga's own _youki_ as fuel.

Fearless, Kagome reaches through the fire and strips the _ofuda_ from Kouga's fur. She flings it back at Miroku, and it falls to the ground and burns out, leaves only black ash behind. The wolf stalks forward, and Miroku clenches his right hand – does he have any other choice? Can he do it, can he unleash his most desperate weapon in this little space? And the woman – the miko – what about her?

He is in the second moment of his thoughts when the choice is taken from him. The wolf leaps forward and grabs Miroku in his teeth. Miroku feels agony, the enormous fangs squeezing around his middle, breaking into the skin, digging deeper -

“Kouga! Kouga, put him down! What are you doing, Kouga, stop it, come on! Stop – it – you – _Kouga_!”

In a haze of pain, the white flash of death suspended before him, Miroku sees the woman in blinks as she approaches the wolf that has bitten him and presses her hands against the enormous muzzle, presses her whole body against the head of the wolf and tugs at the fur below one great eye.

The pain grows less, and Miroku falls out of Kouga's mouth and lands on the fur-covered floor, bloody and wet with wolf-saliva and shuddering with the nearness of his own death.

Out of one half open eye he sees the woman pushing back the wolf from his body, her hands on the great muzzle, careless of the gleaming fangs so near her delicate fingers.

 _Fearless_.

What a woman – what a strange, beautiful, fearless prize of a woman!

The shape of the wolf becomes more human, a shape Miroku remembers. The eyes give away the nature of the beast; in the shadow they glow like coals of ice.

The wolf's face is bloody.

He bends and kisses the woman.

She doesn't turn away.

Blackness rushes over Miroku, a dark, unconscious wave.

* * *

A/N: And there we are! Another chapter, as promised! Today's chapter title “Sine Metu” translates to “without fear”. Much thanks to ye readers and reviewers – more soon, as in tomorrow (or later today, depending on where you are!) Also, Miroku is not dead; just slightly...chewed. Don't worry, he'll stay in one piece....as long as his hand stays under control. No, not the Kazaana hand. The groping one. :snickers:

Please Review!


	45. Ieiunium Fulgar

Kagome tastes blood on her lips and something within her lurches in confusion and terror. She doesn't back away, doesn't dare move – she's not afraid, not for herself, not of Kouga – but she _is_ afraid for the man behind her on the ground, unconscious and bleeding from the wounds of Kouga's teeth.

Another moment and she would have been too late, but she doesn't want to think about that, just like she doesn't want to think about the fact that there is blood smeared across her lips, and Kouga's lips, and that it is human blood. Despite herself she can't help but think about it. Not wanting to doesn't prevent her mind from wandering on its own.

She has proof now that Kouga is what he says he is – that his wolves are, too. The pups are already crowding around the man's fallen body, licking at the blood on the furs around him, licking at the blood on his torn robes and on his arm where the sleeves have pulled up, revealing the skin. By accident she licks her own lips, tastes copper and nearly retches, but she's distracted from her own distress by Sho.

The littlest pup comes forward and grips the man's forearm in his baby teeth, tugging angrily at the skin there. Kagome reaches forward to tug him away and Sho growls at her faintly but lets her do so.

“Kagome -”

She looks back from the pup in her hands to Kouga's face. His eyes are dark but not with anger now; he looks...worried, and the expression doesn't fit his face. She blinks at him and takes the step that separates them, touches his shoulder gently.

“What is it, Kouga?”

Just at the touch, relief floods into his face. He bends and presses his nose to her neck, breathes deeply and then rubs his blood-damped cheeks against her.

Kagome wrinkles her nose at that and pushes him back.

“Ew- Kouga, you're all bloody! I have _got_ to have a bath now.”

Kouga grins and leans forward, laps at her throat with a hot and lazy tongue. She wrinkles her nose at him and he laughs a little and then turns and gives her a push toward the passage outside.

“Go down to the river, Kagome. I'll be with you in a minute – someone needs disciplining, for letting this idiot get loose – and then I better tie him up myself if you don't want him dead.”

Kagome blinks at him as she reaches the threshold and feels a strange shiver crawl across her skin.

“Of course I don't want him dead -”

“I know. You stopped me. So I'll bind him up, for now. If he gets away again his life's forfeit. You might want to explain that to him if you decide to talk to him after your bath.”

Kagome nods and turns away, still feeling that same shiver – _youkai, Kouga's youkai_. More than the moment she met him, more than while he was fighting or hunting or being _wolfish_ at her, watching him attack that man without a second thought brings the truth of the word _youkai_ into her consciousness and makes her wonder what it is she's doing here, what it is she thinks she's trying to be.

The water of the river is cold, but she welcomes the shock on her senses and scrubs blood from her face and hands and the sweat of the night from her body, and then leaps out onto the bank and wraps herself in fur, shivering.

“I guess I better go talk to that guy, whoever he is. He must be a holy man, or he wouldn't carry _ofuda_.”

Thoughtful, wondering why Kouga hasn't come down like he said he would, Kagome climbs back up the rocks and ledges to the mouth of the den and then follows the _presence_ of Kouga and his shikon shards until she finds him, involved in conversation with a wolf she doesn't know in a part of the den she hasn't yet explored. She only hears a few words, but they renew her inner chill.

“ _...escaped. But I won't stand for a threat to her – do you understand?_ ”

“ _Kouga-sama -_ ”

“ _More lives than just that man's depends on it._ ”

Kagome sucks in a breath at the expression on Kouga's face – dark promises, rich anger, the blue of his eyes gleaming with a red edge. The wolf in front of him does not cower, but Kagome sees the acceptance in his face, the knowledge that his life depends on adequate performance of his duties, and then Kouga turns and looks at Kagome and his face changes in an instant flicker.

“Kagome, you were too fast for me!”

She smiles a little.

“I doubt that – it's just cold so I didn't want to take any longer than I needed. Too long in cold water like that and I'll get sick.”

The expression on Kouga's face is almost comical now, and Kagome snickers and shakes her head.

“Don't worry about it, Kouga. Maybe next time I take lessons you should have some too.”

“Kagome – you -”

He laughs, and the sound is rich and deep and gorgeous, and Kagome flushes and then turns away from him in confusion.

This is the Kouga she knows, the Kouga she's spent time with and learned how to talk to. This is the Kouga of goodnight kisses and good morning snuggles, the Kouga who takes her on hunts and fights beside her, who rolls his eyes in aggravation whenever Sho absconds his place at her back while she's sleeping.

Who is the Kouga he can become without a moment's notice? The wolf, deadly, red-eyed, embodying all she knows of _youkai_?

_Or is that just Kouga, too? The man and the monster -_

She remembers everything she had thought in the quiet hour before Kouga had returned that morning, and knows that she must decipher this mystery. This mystery of _Kouga_ , and why she still isn't afraid of him when she knows she should be.

* * *

A/N: And there we are! Today's chapter, as promised...I feel much better about myself now that I'm doing daily updates again XD The chapter title, “Ieiunium Fulgur” means “lightning fast” - Kouga's a moody thing isn't he? More tomorrow, my dears, which probably means...oh...5 or 6 hours since it's one in the morning where I am and thus technically already tomorrow! Thanks for reading my dears; see you soon!

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	46. Esto Perpetua

Kagome waits for Kouga to kiss her and leave before she goes in to see the man who is Kouga's prisoner. He blinks at her when she pushes aside the heavy leather curtain that blocks off the room he's in, and Kagome winces at the sight of him. He's been bound shoulders to ankle in leather thongs tied cruelly tight; his robes are stained with blood, dark and shiny on the indigo silk she can see, and his face is pale.

She is surprised when he licks his lips and turns his head to look at her and speaks. His voice is rough but fairly cheerful, considering his situation.

“So, it's the wolf's woman. Or should I say the wolf's miko? I owe you my life.”

Kagome blinks, confused.

“You know I'm – that I'm a miko?”

The stranger scoffs.

“Of course I do! I've got power just like you do; like knows like, wolf-woman.”

Kagome shakes her head, uncomfortable.

“I'm not really a miko, I wasn't ever trained as one and I barely know what my power can do. Anyway, I've got a name – not _wolf's woman_. I'm Kagome; Higurashi Kagome.”

Miroku grins.

“Pretty name for a pretty lady, I see.”

Kagome scowls.

“Don't even try it, buster.”

It is Miroku's turn to scowl.

“ _Buster_? Who's that? My name is Miroku, a humble servant of Buddha -”

Kagome snickers a little and shakes her head; of course her idioms don't make sense to him, she's five hundred years out of date.

“A Buddhist monk? But then what are you doing _here_?”

“I wasn't looking to be here; in case you hadn't noticed, these aren't the finest accommodations in Echigo, Kagome-sama.”

She blushes a little. _Kagome-sama_? Who _is_ this guy!

“Uh...look, Miroku-san, I don't know why you're here or what you were trying to do or why Kouga even put you here in the first place, but I do know if you try anything like what you did this morning again you aren't going to be around long enough for us to have another conversation.”

“You want to talk to me again, beautiful Kagome-sama? I'm honored -”

“You – what – what are you talking about! Are you even listening to anything I'm saying?”

Kagome throws her hands up and then scrubs her fingers through her hair, exasperated.

“Sorry; I can't help myself when a lovely woman is around.”

Miroku gives her a conspiratorial wink and flashes his most charming grin.

“I think I'm cursed, really.”

Kagome rolls her eyes.

“This is what men in the _sengoku_ period use for pick-up lines? _So_ lame -”

Miroku has no idea what she's talking about but it sounds disparaging and he doesn't think that's good. Kagome stares down at him, her expression suddenly inscrutable, and speaks low, quick words.

“Look, Miroku – do us both a favor and don't do anything to upset Kouga. I'd rather not see him bite you in half, and even if I could, I wouldn't stop him again. It's not my place, even if – I don't want to see – I don't think I could -”

She takes a deep breath.

“I can't stop him again, all right? Just – don't get yourself killed.”

For a moment, Miroku's face becomes serious.

“Kagome-sama, I will do my best not to – and you do the same. You don't seem to realize it, but these wolves are dangerous beasts and that leader of theirs – Kouga – he's the most dangerous of all. Your power is a threat to them; you should escape with me and not look back.”

Kagome stares at him for a long, long moment. Thoughts flash through her head – the blood on Kouga's lips, the swift and deadly nature of his reactions...his red eyes. His _blue_ eyes. His laughter. His smile as he rubbed his scent against her skin - _his smile_. The way he looks at her, the way he has looked at her even from the first moment.

“ _Hello again, Kagome.”_

She remembers fire in his dark fur, and the howl of his agony, and Miroku trying to drag her away from her Kouga.

“Now I understand – Miroku, it's dangerous here for you. You should leave, if Kouga lets you. I'll talk to him; maybe he'll let you go. But I'm safe with him – I want to be with him – I could leave if I wanted to but I _don't_ want to, so don't try to take me with you again and don't try to convince me to leave.”

She stares at him intently for a moment, and then she flushes.

“I think – I think Kouga might hurt you worse for trying to take me away than anything else.”

The flush deepens, darkens. Her voice grows very low.

“You said it yourself; I'm the wolf's woman – but it's not because he stole me. I'm the wolf's woman because – because I want to be.”

Kagome turns away and whips out of the room, and Miroku sits alone in the dark and the damp, and wonders what it is he's gotten himself into by accident.

* * *

Kouga is standing outside Miroku's prison when Kagome leaves; he is waiting for her, not eavesdropping, but he hears her regardless – she doesn't have the knack yet of speaking too quietly for youkai ears to overhear.

Her words send a soaring heat through his whole body; his skin tingles; his blood roars in his ears and he feels the pounding of his heart in the tips of his fingers.

“ _I'm the wolf's woman because I want to be_.”

The words he's been waiting for; the words he wants – the words that tell him she won't say no when he tries to bring her closer to him. She steps past the heavy curtain and walks almost directly into his chest, but Kouga doesn't care. He reaches out for her and pulls her close to him, bends to kiss her and this time holds nothing back. His tongue licks across her lips and then slips into her mouth, brushes against her tongue and makes her shiver. His hands settle warm on the skin of her waist and then slip down to her hips and tighten, pull her flush against his body.

His lips leave her mouth and trace the line of her jaw; he laps at the soft skin of her throat, nips it gently and then kisses below her ear, brings his mouth close enough that the heat of his breath sends shudders in ripples down her spine as he speaks to her.

“So you are the wolf's woman?”

“You – heard that!”

Kagome's voice is barely a squeak. She turns her head to look away from him but Kouga guides her gaze back to his face with a gentle hand on her chin.

“I heard you, Kagome. You know, I want you - but you weren't really mine.”

He feels a sudden tension steel her limbs.

“I – wasn't?”

He shakes his head.

“No. But you are now, Kagome – Kagome -”

And then he has both her hands in his hands, and he is looking down at her with happiness and pride and want and love.

“Be my woman, Kagome. Let me court you; let me win you; let me take you for my mate, and for forever – for all time -”

She is saying yes before he has even said her name. Yes, over and over; a whisper, a promise, a want.

* * *

A/N: And so Miroku's presence provides a catalyst for the confession Kagome has been lingering over all this time. After all, she's seen the best and the worst Kouga has to offer, now – or thinks she has. Today's chapter title, “Esto Perpetua”, means “let it be everlasting”. More tomorrow, of course, and much thank to you, readers and reviewers all!

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	47. Terras Irradient

 

Sunset comes, and the fires are lit on the ledges outside the den, and the stars begin to come out one by one around the brilliant luminance of the moon. Kouga sends some of the higher ranked females of the pack to Kagome, their arms laden with gifts that are promises. Though she is surprised, Kagome lets them do what they want; she trusts Kouga, and that means trusting his pack, too.

One has ornaments and jewelry and combs; another lays down an armful of gleaming black fur; three more carry a great tub full of hot water. Kagome sinks into it gratefully, surprised that they have such a thing; she's seen wolves bathing in the river many times. The hot water is a welcome respite from the cold current, and she recognizes Shiori and greets her with a smile.

“Shiori! How's Sho, I haven't seen him today -”

“He's well, Kagome-san. Please, lean back and I'll wash you're hair.”

“Ah – oh. All right then...”

Hesitant at first, Kagome relaxes in the pampering treatment after only a few moments. Shiori's claws massage her scalp gently despite how deadly she knows such claws can be, and when she is through Kagome rinses her hair and then lays back for a few minutes until the hot water begins to cool and her fingers wrinkle.

Two of the females who brought the bath wrap her in warm fur and rub her skin dry; it tickles, and Kagome restrains her laughter. When she's dry they leave her wrapped in the fur and the three who brought the bath take it out again. Kagome sits on the furs that are spread across the floor of Kouga's chamber and submits to Shiori combing out her hair and one of the other females trimming and...sharpening her nails. She blinks at that but says nothing, and in a very few minutes she is alone with Shiori.

“Please stand, Kagome-san. I'll help dress you and then we must be going; the sun is almost set completely.”

Kagome looked up and saw that Shiori was right. The red lines of light that had painted the wall are gone now, and the room is dim with purple twilight. Shiori stands and shakes out the gleaming dark fur that she brought in with her. One piece at a time, she dresses Kagome in it; a bandeau like the one she usually wears but with long long trailing ends that hang down in the back, weighted with gold. The skirt is long and heavy and sits low on Kagome's hips; she feels cool air on the small of her back and realizes that if she had a tail it would be right in that bare space. The hem of the skirt is heavy with with gold and amber, and Kagome stands still while Shiori binds up her hair and pins it. Kagome thinks at first that the pins are ivory, but her eyes widen after a moment looking at them. The shape – they are the fangs of a wolf, the fangs of a youkai!

Something cold and wet on the back of her neck startles her, but Shiori's left hand is on her shoulder and holds her still.

“Don't move, Kagome-san. You'll spoil it the paint.”

Kagome feels more tickling wetness move across her shoulders, on the middle of her back – on her upper arms, and then Shiori moves in front of her and she sees that the wolf female has been painting her with gleaming gold. She doesn't know what's on her back, but Shiori paints five stylized wolf claws on her chest, the claws reaching up for her throat; something on her forehead that she can't see, and then a line of characters Kagome doesn't know in a spiral that winds around her wrist to her elbows. The gold paint is cold and feels heavy on her fingernails, but Shiori doesn't only paint the nails, she paints the nails and the tips of Kagome's fingers, then turns her hands and paints a shape like a starburst in the center of each palm.

“Almost done, Kagome-san. Sit back, please.”

Kagome does as she's told, and Shiori kneels before her and paints her toenails, and then lifts Kagome's feet one at a time and paints the bottoms. Where the top of her feet meet her ankles, Shiori paints another unrecognizable character, and Kagome sighs and sits very still, afraid that if she moves she'll ruin Shiori's careful work.

“Sit still for a minute or two, Kagome-san. The paint dries quickly and won't come off without the solvent; you have no need to worry once it's dry.”

“Oh good, I was afraid I was going to leave gold footprints all the way outside.”

Shiori smiles and shakes her head.

“No, of course not. Does the paint still feel cold?”

“On the bottoms of my feet, but nowhere else.”

After another minute has passed the cool sensation fades, and Shiori stands and pulls Kagome to her feet with strength Kagome finds surprising. She takes a step toward the passage, but Shiori stops her with a hand on her arm.

“Not quite yet, Kagome-san. Kouga sent these for you to wear; your first courtship gifts, Kagome-san!”

By the tone of her voice Kagome knows she should be excited, and when she unwraps the unassuming fur package that Shiori hands to her the things she finds inside astonish her. A necklace of wolf claws, each one decorated with gilding and separated with golden beads. Gold and jade jewelry, some of it so ancient in appearance that she's almost afraid to touch it - a handful of sparkling gems, loose and rattling against each other. A gleaming fortune lies before her, and Shiori smiles at her expression and steps forward to take some of the things from the fur laying open in her hands.

“Our prince shows you some of his wealth, Kagome-san. Some of these things have been passed through many generations, but some of them are new.”

Carefully, Shiori takes the necklace of gleaming claws and fastens it around Kagome's throat. Then she steps back and examines the work she has done.

“Beautiful, Kagome-san. Now, come – we don't you to be late.”

It is only then that Kagome realizes she has been made ready for a reason – of course there would be a reason – and only hopes that she doesn't make too much a fool of herself.

She steadies herself with the memory of Kouga's proclamation, how firm he is about his desire – about wanting her _forever_. She remembers what he told her before she ever knew he had such serious intentions toward her – that a wolf takes one mate, and one mate only.

She takes a deep breath, and smiles at Shiori's questioning look, and then steps out into the passage and makes her way outside.

* * *

Kouga stands on a flat stone in the center of the river, high enough that all the pack can gather below him and look up to see the announcement he is about to make. He knows it's unnecessarily, in the strictest sense; Kagome isn't a wolf, and his intentions are well known to any who care to interest themselves, but he doesn't care. He _wants_ to claim her; wants the formal courtship announcement to soothe the restless pacing of the wolf that is his soul. Having her so close to him, wanting her so much – it's a torment like nothing he's ever known, and no part of him will be satisfied until he makes his final claim on her and takes her for his own forever.

This first step – it is not enough, but it is the right direction. He doesn't think he'll ever be able to get Kagome's voice out of his head again, repeating the words that he had been waiting for.

“ _I'm the wolf's woman._ ”

When she comes out of the entrance to the den, Shiori close behind her, the pack sets up a howl of welcome but Kouga barely hears it. His eyes are on Kagome – the gleaming black fur that is his mother's own pelt, the gold of his gifts at her throat, the painted promise of her _self_ shining on her skin in the rising light of the moon.

* * *


	48. Semper Fidelis

Shiori helps Kagome up to Kouga's side and then jumps down to her own place in the pack.

Kouga reaches out and pulls Kagome close to him, kisses her only once but still leaves her breathless.

“Beautiful, Kagome. My woman -”

And then he turns to the waiting pack and makes the announcement they have all known was coming.

“Wolves! I am your alpha; I am your prince! You know me, and now I've chosen a woman, strong, beautiful, powerful – Kagome, the shikon woman, Kagome the loveliest maiden in Nihon. I court her – she has accepted me – let no other seek to mark or mate her until she announces her choice!”

Before the elders and those beneath them, before the whole of his pack, Kouga stands and makes his declaration of intention.

“I will court her; my Kagome. No one will interfere; no one will stand between us. Is it well with you, wolves?”

The howl that goes up from the pack is an eerie acceptance, an approbation. Kagome smiles at them; her relief open, obvious; Kouga does too, but then he turns that smile at her and it changes, deepens – he laughs a little, and then turns to face the moon, still nearly full, and howls with the voice of the great wolf.

Kagome has no howl of her own. She steps forward into the circle of Kouga's arms and shares _his –_ more than the sound of it, she feels the vibration of his chest and the pounding of his heart. She presses her face against his chest and prays she has made the right decision, but it _feels_ right – and then she feels something cold and wet against her shoulder.

For a moment she thinks it's paint again, but it's not; it's a single snowflake, melting on her skin. The cold becomes momentarily, unbearably warm as Kouga leans down and licks it from her shoulder. For the first time he has no need to hide the unbearable, terrible desire that floods and consumes him, and he greets her blushing glance with smoldering fire in his gaze.

“Kagome; woman, you undo everything about me.”

He leans closer to her; her lips are dry and her tongue darts out, licks them; he bends over her then, and she succumbs to his kiss, lets Kouga pull her against his body. One of his hands has found the bare patch of painted skin at the small of her back; the other skims the bare curve of her waist and settles around her hip. Her skin tingles at his touch. Kouga's tongue moves against her tongue and she feels – she feels -

 _Heat_. It curls within her like a sleeping beast, spreads from an uncertain place in her middle to the tips of her toes. For the first time, Kagome lets her hands wander, too. She traced the muscles of Kouga's arms, let her hands wander into the unbound length of his hair and down across his shoulders. His growl of approval vibrates against her lips. She touches his chest, and then lets her hands sneak beneath the open vest he wears and around his back. She strokes hot skin, feels lean, smooth muscles moving beneath the surface.

He reaches down his fingers, splays them against her hips, slips them under the waist band of her skirt, strokes the sensitive skin at the top of her buttocks and holds her so tight against his body that she can feel his heart beating in his chest.

“Kagome. Kagome, you must – you should -”

“ _Stop. Yes._ ”

She leans back; her hands retreat from beneath his fur vest; his fingertips slip up her spine and then down her shoulder until he is holding one of her hands.

He leaps down from the stone to the riverbank and pulls her after him, and Kagome squeals and falls laughing into his arms.

* * *

In the morning, well rested and well pleased, making plans for how to best court his woman, Kouga goes to Miroku and stands over him.

For Kagome's sake he has promised mercy; he won't kill this priest, despite the attack he's made, but Kouga still wants to know why a stranger and a priest was wandering alone through his territory.

“My woman says I should let you go, human. She says that you didn't mean to cause trouble, and that once you were caught you only wanted to save yourself...and her. You know better now, human – don't you?”

Slowly, unsure of what is going to happen to him, Miroku nods.

“Good.”

Kouga sits, restrains his darker hungers, the urge to hurt this man who tried to take Kagome away from him, who burned him with holy fire -

“Tell me why you trespassed, human. Tell me what you were doing in my mountains; tell me why you tried to take from me the woman who is mine – why you attacked me, and tried to break the bond of trust between us?”

Miroku answers; he doesn't really have a choice, but his voice is hoarse and raspy.

“I didn't mean to trespass; I was following a rumor of the shikon no tama. I'm hunting an enemy; he wants the gem – if I have it, he'll come for me, and then I can fight and defeat him. There's...supposed to be a shard, to the north of here. I was looking for it. The woman – Kagome-sama – is a miko. When I saw that she was here among youkai, I thought she was being held against her will; I wanted to save her.”

“From me.”

Kouga's voice sneers, but Miroku blinks up at him calmly

“Yes. From you.”

Only one thing holds back Kouga's violence. He never wants to see a look of horror on Kagome's face again; he never wants to see the sweetness of her smile shattered by disgust. He is all she knows of youkai, and he knows that isn't enough – but it will have to be. A thought occurs to him and he tucks it away for later.

He looks down at the priest in his bonds and then lets him loose with a single slash of his claws.

“Don't leave this room; it wouldn't be safe. I'll send someone with food; you'll be let out tomorrow. It's snowing now – you wouldn't last five minutes and Kagome would be upset with me. You understand?”

Miroku nods faintly.

For the rest of the day he contemplates his good fortune, and wonders about the woman who protects his life. There was something about her – something about her power – something strange; something...familiar?

* * *


	49. Speculum Speculorum

Without a clear lead or a sure a direction, the uncomfortable couple that is Kikyou and Inuyasha wanders the forest near Edo, seeking a hint or a sign of the shikon no tama.

At first Inuyasha is pleased with Kikyou's silence; he doesn't know what to say to her, has no idea how to address this woman when he possesses so many memories of her and she barely recognizes his name. He catches her staring at him, sometimes, her eyes wide and dark and fixed; he catches himself staring at her, too, over and over again.

Whenever he notices what he's doing he drags his eyes away, but as the first day becomes a second, and then a third, the weight of silence and the emptiness of Kikyou's eyes begin to wear on him. That night, he builds a fire and hunts for himself, and this time for her, too. She eats slowly, as if in a dream. He wonders if she tastes it, or if she needs it, and if she knows that she's not really human any more.

Inuyasha doesn't ask. It doesn't seem – _right_. Instead, he begins to tell her stories.

He tells Kikyou about the day they met; about his own brash promises of darkness, about the way she shone to him; about the children and how much she loved to play with them, to teach them – about how he watched her, day after day until he finally got up the courage to approach her.

He tells her about the uneasy alliance they had made against the youkai attacking their mutual territory; about how that uneasy alliance had become an uneasy friendship...a desperate seeking of trust, each of them reach out for the other because there was no one else who would, who _could_ , support them.

He tells her about the days they had journeyed together, and about the struggle to protect the shikon no tama; the thing they were seeking now, shattered somehow into many pieces. Rumor is already spreading widely across the countryside about that.

Inuyasha talks until his voice is hoarse, and then falls silent. He can't say anything about his feelings for her; he can't say that he used to love her when he thinks he might still; he can barely bring himself to think about it, especially when she's sitting on the other side of the fire from him, staring with wide, blank eyes.

* * *

That night while Inuyasha sleeps the shallow sleep that is all he's known since childhood, Kikyou sits awake and stares into the shifting campfire's flames. The body she has been reborn into has no need of food, or sleep; she rests, but only because she has no real purpose, no intensity of will, not because she is tired.

The fire takes shape in front of her, flickers and changes as fire does, but slowly the shapes imprint themselves with the words that Inuyasha spoke before he slept – years of stories compressed into his memory and transmitted in words.

Visions of the past dance before her in the flames. She wonders if it is memories that are coming to her, or if it is just the words of Inuyasha.

 _Inuyasha_.

She sees – water. A river; a boat. His body, warm against her – the gold of his eyes – and flicker, and some terrible battle plays out, familiar presence behind her...Inuyasha. And a blink, and there is darkness in a meadow elaborated to her sight only by the gleam of a thousand fireflies and the sight of uncounted stars...

 _Inuyasha_. Always Inuyasha.

Something hurts inside her; something delivers terrible pangs to this strange body of hers that isn't even flesh. _Inuyasha_.

She holds out her hand toward the flames; she looks through them at the hanyou asleep on the other side of the fire, and she whispers the name again to herself, no louder than the fire's rush.

“ _Inuyasha_. Inuyasha, why is everything I remember tied to you?”

She lay by the fire and closed her eyes.

She doesn't sleep, but maybe she dreams; maybe she remembers.

 _Fire_.

She dreams of fire, and screams, and darkness; the darkness of her own death.

She dreams the white flash of hair and gold eyes that is attached to every recollection of the past.

She dreams his mouth on her mouth; chapped lips and uncertainty and sweetness.

A little at a time Kikyou opens her eyes again and looks through the fire. That kiss – she doesn't understand why she remembers it. Wasn't she a miko? Wasn't she a pure and virtuous woman blessed by the gods? Wasn't she -

_I was the guardian of the shikon no tama._

The thought rings through her and leaves vibrations of confusion behind it.

“Shikon...no tama.”

The witch that had back to this life had spoken of it. The woman who claimed to be the sister of the Kikyou she had been had also spoken of it – and her companion, Inuyasha. Is this the reason she has been reborn? Is this the reason she walks the earth again?

She feels a surge of great frustration, the first intense feeling that's come over her since she awoke.

“Why can't I remember! _Why_!”

Her voice escapes her shrill and loud and pained. Inuyasha jumps into alertness and crosses the fire in half a moment. Her fists are tight in her long hair and her eyes are wild and wet with tears. _Tears_. Inuyasha stares at them; Kikyou doesn't notice them at all. Her eyes are on his face, the deep concern there; her time is suspended because she knows this moment. The fire behind them; the dampness on her cheeks; she knows it all.

She leans forward and up and presses her lips against his mouth. For a moment he is stiff and unyielding against her. Then he succumbs, wraps his arms around her and clutches her tight against his body.

He tastes the same as the dream, and she knows now it was memory for certain.

 _Inuyasha_.

Chapped lips and uncertainty and sweetness.

* * *


	50. Vae Victus

That night something changes between Inuyasha and Kikyou, something Inuyasha can't put his finger on. He knows the moment it happened; he can still taste her kiss, all women and nothing of the scent of death that clings to her. He has not yet recognized that by giving in to the kiss he has given in to the woman; that he is allowing his softer feelings and the memory of love to win over the panic of the final moments before he sank into sealed sleep.

It isn't hard; she needs protecting, she always has, because despite the enormity of her power she is fragile and soft and sad. The shield of her position, of her title as _shikon no miko_ – that is gone from her now, along with the truth of herself. Inuyasha still possesses it – that truth – and a little at a time, because he can't help himself, he begins to treat her like the woman he used to know.

A little at a time, she begins to become that woman, remembering day by day tiny pieces of the person that she is. _Kikyou_. When he says it, the name is still warmest, but when they meet strangers and she introduces herself, she no longer feels like the name doesn't belong to her.

They move west, almost out of Inuyasha's forest now and into lands that bear a scent that brings him discomfort. They are following the promise of recent rumor and he is eager enough to disregard the promise of danger. They meet few youkai; lesser beings that scatter from the threat of Inuyasha's _youki_ and more from the latent terror of Kikyou's holy power. One, then two and then five of the shards of the shikon no tama come into Kikyou's care with ease.

Perhaps it is for this reason that when the attack finally comes, it is so surprising.

Inuyasha walks forward, his eyes flickering between the path ahead of him and Kikyou beside him and just slightly behind. Her eyes are less empty than they have been, but the dreamy quality of her gaze still unnerves him. The next time he looks at her, he feels his ankle catch against something sharp, and he stumbles.

“Inuyasha?”

Kikyou stares at him for a moment and then turns to the left, bow and arrow in her hands without a moment's pause.

“Who's there? I know you're out there, demon!”

Inuyasha untangles his ankle from something he can't see, but which feels like wire, and comes to stand close behind Kikyou, his claws at the ready.

Mocking laughter echoes between the trees, high-pitched and female. Inuyasha grits his teeth and growls, feels the pressure of the Inu in him increase with the promise of combat. Kikyou is still, calm, focused, completely alert, and when the laughter becomes the figure of a demoness, she is ready.

Swift as light itself, the arrow flies free from her bow, strikes the laughing female in the face. The laughter stops, and Inuyasha relaxes, flips a grin over his shoulder toward Kikyou.

“Good shot -”

And then the words are choked off by a heavy tendril of something dank and tight and heavy wrapping around his throat. Inuyasha is yanked off his feet and hangs suspended by his throat. He claws ineffectively at it, and what he feels under his fingers confuses him. _Hair?_ And how had the youkai avoided purification at Kikyou's hands?

He heard the demoness speak again, her voice mocking and angry and just the smallest bit afraid.

“So, you're a priestess, hmm? Isn't that _lovely_.”

The words fell flat. Kikyou stood still, a second arrow on her bow, her stance unwavering.

“Release Inuyasha, demon.”

There was more laughter, and the hair wrapped around Inuyasha's throat begins to spread, creeping up over his face and down toward his chest. He draws in a creaking breath and then feels a wave of heat wash over him, brilliant, familiar power.

The hair is purified before his eyes, splits apart and vanishes into dust. He falls free from it and lands on all fours, choking and coughing. When he has his breath back Inuyasha stands and takes a step backward to stand by Kikyou. She reaches out and stops him, points just behind him at something he can't see.

“Be wary, Inuyasha. The hairs are just there. Can't you see them?”

Inuyasha shakes his head and Kikyou turns back to the forest, scanning on lines that make no sense to him.

“Kikyou, is there -”

“She isn't really here. The shape of the demoness that I shot with the _hama no ya –_ it is only a construct of these hairs.”

“My, my, aren't you a smart little thing!”

Inuyasha jerks back with a snarl, one arm across Kikyou's chest. In front of them, the demoness stands on the ball of one foot, balanced on an invisible hair.

“You could be dangerous, though, couldn't you? I should kill you; it's too bad you don't have nice hair, priestess! But you, pretty boy...”

Inuyasha splutters and stares at her. _Pretty boy?_

“What lovely hair you have; the crown jewel for my collection! And you have something else for me, don't you, pretty boy?”

She steps forward, as if down stairs. She wears a black _kunoichi_ , cut short and tied to show her figure to best advantage. On her left hip she carries a sword; in her left hand is a blood red comb. In her right hand she holds up a gleaming shard of the shikon no tama, and then she smiles and seems to sink down toward them.

Kikyou watches her approach calmly; Inuyasha snarls and crouches, knowing what she wants now.

“You won't have the shards, youkai!”

She smiles at him and waves a finger at him, and then draws her sword.

“My name is Yura, pretty boy. Benigasumi will cut the most well armored flesh to the bone, without harming a single one of your lovely hairs!”

She leaps toward him, sword upraised. Inuyasha tries to move, to leap out of the way, to dodge her strike, but hair he can't see have crept around his limbs and throat and pin him still. He stares upward, and thinks that this can't be happening, he can't be dying like this – not now, not here, not in a fight against a low-class youkai like this pretentious bitch!

Light passes before his eyes and he thinks for a single instant that it's death – but no. It is the light of the _hama no ya_ , Kikyou's arrow passing a blazing inch before his face. It severs the strings of Yura's control, and for the second time Inuyasha falls free.

Yura is still, suspended in mid-air by the hair that obeys her, but now her eyes are dark and her mouth is twisted in a spiteful scowl.

“Stupid priestess, I don't _want_ your hair! Why don't you just _go – away!_ ”

With a cry of effort, Yura swings the red comb in her left hand. Kikyou sees fire beginning to rush toward her, but her focus is on the comb. To her miko sight it is the whirring core of the dark _youki_ animating the dangerous hair and the shape of the demoness, and in an instant, she understands what Yura is.

“Tsukumogami -”

Arrow to the string; draw back and release. It flies true, purifies the waves of demonic fire and strikes the red comb in Yura's hand. She screams and then the wave of Kikyou's power washes her out in sweetness.

The comb cracks in half and falls to the ground, and beside it falls a shard of the shikon no tama and Yura's sword.

Inuyasha stares.

“K-Kikyou?”

“She was a tsukumogami; she was the comb, probably a comb used on the hair of the dead. The shikon no tama made her stronger.”

Inuyasha blinks and then reaches out almost absently to pick up the shard.

“Good one, then; I'd never have figured that out.”

Kikyou only smiles faintly, but Inuyasha is sure to step on the broken comb as they walk away.   


	51. Nix Carcerum

The wind howls as it drops its burden of snow across the Echigo Mountains. The snow grows heavier as the sun sets and night falls; the temperature drops, and black clouds furl themselves tight around the moon, letting out no light. Here and there a single star, or sometimes two, peeks out and then vanishes again as the wind whips the storm into a greater frenzy. By midnight more than a foot of snow blankets the night-quiet valley where the wolves make their den.

On the highest ledge in front of the den, overlooking the river, Kagome sits well-wrapped in fur, in a spot brushed clear of snow for her by Kouga himself. She stares at Kouga as much as at the landscape; both attract her eye, and there's the added wonder of how Kouga can stand to be out in the snow wearing nothing more than usual. Even his feet are bare, except for the white silk wrapping.

“Aren't you cold, Kouga? There's enough room for you, too, you know -”

He grins at her, almost a smirk.

“I'm youkai; a wolf – don't forget it, Kagome. It takes more than this to bother me, but I don't mind being warm, either.”

He slips beside her onto the ledge, under the layers of furs spread across her lap, and sneaks an arm around her waist. She tenses, prepared to feel cold skin against her body, but Kouga is _hot_. She lets out a sigh and snuggles closer to him, breathes on her hands and then flushes when he encloses them in his own fingers.

“I've been thinking about how to court you, Kagome.”

Her flush darkens to ripe crimson.

“O-oh?”

Kouga leans over her, bends to brush his cheek against her cheek.

“Yes. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that I have been courting you, this whole time; only I didn't want to scare you off. And – well, you don't know anything about youkai, or about wolves except what Hakkaku's talked to you about...”

“That's true, I've never met a youkai in the future.”

“Right. So I – well...”

Kagome stares at him with suspicious glimmer in the corner of her eye.

“It sounds like you've done something, Kouga.”

Her gaze is steady; but he looks away. It was not so awkward to say this in his thoughts, but now that it comes down to it none of the words he thought he was going to see seem right.

“Kouga -”

“Ah – well -”

He looks away from her and down at the river flowing sluggish and black where it isn't yet choked with snow.

“I asked Hakkaku if he'd teach you – if he'd tell you about courting – about what it means to be the mate of a wolf -”

He is completely surprised when she reaches up and takes his face in her hands and pulls him down to kiss him.

“Kouga! Thank you, thank you, thank you – I kept thinking maybe I should say something or talk to him only it was _so_ awkward to bring up and I've had enough awkward moments without having to ask for some kind of Ookami version of _the talk_ -”

Only half of what she says makes sense to him, but it's the kiss that tells him everything he needs to know. He leans close and takes another kiss for himself, and then wraps both his arms around her and holds her close.

“Sometimes I have no idea what you're talking about, Kagome.”

She laughs.

“Sorry – I forget, sometimes – it's...like home, here.”

Kouga's grin is wider.

“But that's good, Kagome. That's just what I wanted – and a good thing, too. The snow falls deep here, and often; you won't be able to go far without me, and once deep winter comes even us wolves won't be able to travel much.”

Kagome stares up at him with wide eyes and looks out at the thick white blanket already obscuring the landmarks she's come to know in her weeks with him.

“There will really be that much snow?”

He nods, and presses her a little closer to his side.

“Don't worry; we're well provided for, and there's never been a winter yet that _I_ couldn't get through, if it was needed.”

He's only boasting a little, but Kagome's response is a smile more distracted than he expected. Her eyes turn back toward the den again and again, and every time her frown deepens.

“Is something wrong Kagome?”

She bit her lip and then shrugged faintly.

“Well, not wrong exactly – it's not really – my place, but -”

He bent and pressed his forehead against her forehead.

“Your place is beside me. If you accept my courting – if you accept me – you'll stand beside me, my equal, the Alpha female.”

She blinks.

“But I'm human -”

“Doesn't matter. Just – don't think you have to be afraid to speak your mind.”

She nods, gnawing on her lip again, and then looks up at him with those bright blue eyes.

“Kouga, what about Miroku?”

“Miro...who?”

She rolls her eyes at him and nudges him with her shoulder.

“Miroku! The man you're keeping prisoner in there – the man who tried to burn you -”

“Him? What about him?”

“The _snow_ Kouga. Weren't you going to let him go in the morning? How is he going to get through that?”

 _Why should I care? He's not my problem –_ the response is on the tip of Kouga's tongue, but he holds it back. There is a challenge in Kagome's eyes; is this a test? Is there something he should do that will please her? He knows by instinct that his first response won't make her happy.

When it comes to him a moment later – the thing he knows she most wants him to do, the reason she mentioned the man at all, he scowls and then sighs and closes his eyes. _For her_. Just for her, he can do this thing.

“He'll have to stay, then – but he might not, you know. He might just leave anyway -”

Kagome smiles and the kiss she rewards him with is stunning.

“I'll make sure he stays; don't worry. Thank you, Kouga. I'd feel guilty if he went out and died and I could have stopped it – I know you don't really want him here -”

Kouga shrugs, but really he is pleased by her acknowledgment.

* * *

A/N: There we are! Today's chapter my dears, all wrapped up and ready for you! Today's chapter title, “Nix Carcerem”, translates to “snow prison” - quite obvious, I'm afraid XD  


	52. De Sartagine

Kagome intends to go alone to explain the situation to Miroku, despite the fact that she thinks it will take some convincing on her part to get Kouga to agree. Kouga will let Miroku stay until there's a break in the winter snow, or until spring, but she knows he's only doing it because of her. Miroku won't be allowed complete freedom, will be watched even if he is not actively guarded. She thinks the precautions unnecessary, but it is his den and his wolves and he is protective of them and of her.

She remembers the blaze that Miroku had ignited with a single _ofuda_ and understands Kouga's feelings, and doesn't argue. Still, she knows that Miroku will listen better to her than to Kouga's rage and distrust, and so she goes to Kouga and tells him her plan.

She's right; it does take convincing, and no little amount, either. She reminds Kouga that Miroku has no reason to hurt her; that he knows she's a miko and that he's a flirting idiot, and not a danger at all. Kouga's face tells her that it's that last bit which is the trouble, and not the chance of physical danger, but she is firm with him and reassures him of her intentions.

“Don't forget that it's up to me, and that I chose you, Kouga. I wouldn't have agreed to – to let you _court_ me if I didn't mean it -”

“Well, I -”

“Miroku will take the invitation and his restrictions better from me, and you know it. It's not like it would take you more than a moment to come to me if I needed you -”

Kouga grins and relaxes a bit for the first time since Kagome brought up the subject.

“That's true.”

He still bears the shards of the shikon no tama in his legs; it has proved more troublesome to get them out than is worthwhile – more painful, too. He doesn't think they do any harm, and the increase in speed in strength has already proved useful.

“Just be careful, all right? If I have to save you from him I won't hold back – he's already treading a knife's edge with me.”

Kagome nods quickly and wraps her arms around him, just for a moment.

“Thank you, Kouga – for letting him live.”

She hurries out into the den and Kouga watches her go. She won't be happy if he follows her, and she's right – the man will listen better to her.

“I don't have to like it, though.”

He paces back and forth across the floor of his chamber.

* * *

Kagome smiles at the pair of wolves standing guard outside the little room that Miroku is in and pauses to speak with them.

“Ginta! Hakkaku! You two are on guard duty now?”

She receives an identical pair of winces.

“Yes, Kouga sent us here yesterday, since...well.”

“He doesn't trust this human, so he wanted someone strong enough to watch him.”

“The elders weren't interested -”

“Didn't think he was a threat.”

“But Kouga said someone had to do it.”

“So we got stuck with the job, same as always.”

Kagome laughs.

“Poor things, and no one appreciates you, hm?”

They nod dejectedly and Kagome pats them both on the cheek.

“Well, I'm sure Kouga does even if he doesn't say it; what would he do without you two? You do most of the work, there'd be chaos if he had to take over.”

Ginta looks faintly guilty; Hakkaku snickers beneath his breath.

“That's probably true. That reminds me - Kagome-onee-sama, Kouga asked me to teach you about how a wolf courts a mate.”

She nods and flushes a little.

“Yes, he told me he'd asked you. Listen, you don't need to guard Miroku anymore, either he'll be an idiot and run off into the snow or he'll take Kouga's offer and then have a bit of freedom. When I'm through talking to him do you have some free time”

Hakkaku grinned.

“If I'm free from standing around here I do. Should I wait for you, Kagome-onee-sama?”

She reaches forward for the edge of the leather curtain that hides the entrance to Miroku's space and nods.

“Yes, please. Miroku seems intelligent enough, I don't think this will take long.”

* * *

Miroku hears Kagome's voice outside the curtain that blocks him off from the rest of the den, and perks up a little. It's boring beyond belief, being cooped up in here, and though he's been fed and has enough water, and is even free from being tied up, the room he's in is barely big enough for him to take three or four steps on each side.

“ _...Miroku seems intelligent enough, I don't think this will take long_.”

He sees her fingers wrapped around the edge of the curtain, and then she pulls it back and Miroku sees one of his two guards wandering off up the hall and the other looking considerably more relaxed. Is something changing in his circumstances, finally?

“Miroku-san, there's a bit of trouble with letting you go.”

“Ah – what?”

Of all the things that had come to his mind hearing her, seeing her, that was not one.

“It's the snow, Miroku-san -”

He feels a sudden relief. Snow, that's all? Not the will of that Kouga?

“Kagome-sama, please be at ease. A few inches of snow makes no difference to me, I've traveled in such before.”

She shakes her head.

“It snowed a _lot_ overnight, Miroku-san. It's still snowing, actually. Kouga says there's probably going to be two feet by sunset. You can't go out in that, Miroku-san, you wouldn't even make it fifty feet no matter how strong you are! It's cold, and really windy, and the whole valley is closed off with snow. Even the wolves aren't going out.”

“Kagome-sama, I'm afraid you and I are in different positions here. I don't have a choice. You're the wolf's woman, and you have a protector – I don't, and I'm not wanted.”

Kagome shakes her head.

“That's not true! Kouga's wary of you, because you burned him – he's protective of his pack and you've already proved you can be dangerous, Miroku. I talked to him, and he said he'll let you stay until it's safe for you to travel. Even if that not until spring.”

Miroku stares at her, silent, confused, contemplating what could possibly have prompted this offer. She talked to Kouga; she used her influence over the wolf for _his_ sake? His question pops out of his mouth before he can rethink it.

“Why – would you do that for me?”

She shrugs.

“It's the right thing to do. You wouldn't even last five minutes in a blizzard like that. Anyway, even if it's awkward, a winter with wolves is better than freezing to death, isn't it?”

He grins.

“This is indeed true. But please tell me I'm not to be kept in here for the entirety of the season? I appreciate being alive, but it's – a bit confining -”

Kagome looks around and winces; the room is tiny and damp and not the least bit inviting.

“Kouga said you don't have to stay in here and be guarded, but you can't just wander where you please and you'll still be watched.”

She leans forward and speaks more quietly.

“Don't – don't _test_ him, Miroku-san. Kouga's kind and generous and brave; he's strong and loyal and he'll do anything for his pack. _Anything_.”

Her tone is serious but he stares at her strangely, wondering. Who _is_ this girl?

“I know that, Kagome-sama. He's youkai; it's only to be expected; it's why he's dangerous, why they're all dangerous.”

But he sees in her stare that she doesn't really understand, and only shakes his head, and then stands, smiling.

“I will take the wolf's generous offer and stay here until I can make my way out of the mountains without being buried in snow. Please, thank him for me – and thank you, Kagome-sama.”

* * *


	53. In Ignem

Kagome leaves Miroku with his thoughts and goes out into the corridor where Hakkaku is waiting for her.

“Is there a lot of stuff I need to know, Hakkaku?”

“Maybe...probably. I don't know what you know.”

They make their way into a large chamber that shares a wall with Kouga's room. It is the room that is meant to be Kagome's, but she's never once slept here and instead of a bedroom it's become a study, the place where she gets her various lessons from Hakkaku, and where she answers Ginta's questions about all things human...at least the answers she knows.

Kagome settles herself in her usual position, on a ledge against the eastern wall that's piled high with furs.

“I think I don't know anything at all, which is why I need you to tell me.”

“You should've asked, Kagome-onee-sama.”

“Well – it's – it's kind of embarrassing -”

“Embarrassing? Because Kouga is a wolf?”

Kagome shakes her heard quickly.

“No, no – because I'm human and I don't know what I'm doing – I _want_ Kouga, but I don't – oh, ah...”

She is blushing a furious red and her voice trails off into silence while Hakkaku smiles broadly at her and flops down onto the floor.

“I get it, you don't want to do the wrong thing. I don't think it really matters _what_ you do, though, or what you ask - Kouga's inclined to take it as a test and then do whatever's necessary to please you.”

Kagome frowns, confused.

“A – test?”

Hakkaku pushes himself up with his hands and sits cross-legged, holds up a single finger.

“Yup! Lesson number one – courting, first stage!”

Kagome laughs and makes as elaborate and dignified a bow as is possible when one is giggling and seated on a fur-covered ledge.

“Yes, professor!”

“When a wolf wants a mate, his first obligation is to provide for her – to make sure she has everything she needs and everything she wants.”

Kagome is still grinning, but she coughs a little to settle her laughter and nods.

“Right, so – food, and a place to live, all that stuff, right?”

Hakkaku nods.

“Yes, all that stuff, but also more. Not just the necessities of life, the things that make her happy become his responsibility too. When a wolf wants a female, he has to show her that he's willing to do things that please her. It's the first step after she agrees to the courting.”

“So if I were to ask him for something, he'd try to get it for me?”

“No matter what it was, yes.”

“Is that -”

The quest ion comes from her lips hesitantly.

“Is that why he's letting Miroku stay?”

Hakkaku snickers and nods.

“Probably. But I wouldn't worry about it, you saved the man's life, right? Can't do any harm, and the man's well watched. He's outside in the hall right now, sitting not far away. Probably thinks he's safest near where you are – he's probably right, too.”

Kagome sighs.

“I guess you're right, it just...it feels like I'm manipulating him. It makes me not want to ask him for anything -”

“You should be careful, that's true, but if you don't ask him for things, if you don't let him know what you want then he'll get upset or start guessing – and...ah...I'm not really sure which would be worse, to be honest.”

He looks sheepish for admitting it but Kagome only laughs.

“That's definitely true. So tell me, if a male is supposed to win his female by giving her whatever she likes, what is a woman – I mean a female supposed to do if she wants attention from a certain someone?”

Hakkaku grins.

“It's not often that a female makes the first move. Mostly it's a matter of letting the _someone_ know that you're interested, and then waiting for the male to ask for courting permission. I know it might be different for humans 'cause your senses are dull, but in the pack it's hard to hide anything. If a female wants a male, her scent will give her away – that's true for you, too, Kagome-onee-sama.”

She flushes a little; Kouga's already made that clear to her more than once.

“Ah – so. Back to courting...you told me what I can expect from Kouga, but what is he going to expect from me?”

“If he pleases you and you decide it's worth making clear to him and to others that you take his courting seriously, then it is time to escalate your reactions to him and your display of your desire to him. To give him more open suggestion that you being to consider him suitable for a mate.”

“Escalate – my reactions? Suitable for a mate?”

The words tumble out of her, and Hakkaku clarifies even though that wasn't what she meant.

“When you no longer wish to consider the relationship casual – when you begin to think that you may truly wish to bond yourself forever to the one who is courting you. ”

Kagome hesitates before she asks another question. She is sure her face is completely crimson by now, but she is sure that asking Hakkaku right now is much easier than _ever_ asking Kouga.

“Hakkaku – what – what would I do to – to suggest – what I mean is, how – if – I...”

Hakkaku snickers and then with effort manages to regain a straight face.

“A wolf and his female don't mate until they're mated, and when they do it's forever. Anything and everything but the actual mating act is a different story.”

Kagome's voice comes out in a squeak.

“Anything – and everything – but -”

“Yeah. Oh – and I almost forgot. If you want to let a male know that you're ready for _escalating_ , then it's time for a courtship mark. It's a scent mark, the first step of a mate's claim.”

Kagome finds her voice again and manages to banish the thousand illicit images that had all been clamoring for her attention at once.

“But Kouga already marked me with his scent, when we were on the way here from the village! He said -”

“No, no, not like that. The courtship mark _is_ a scent mark, but not just the scent of the male – that just proves nearness. It's rut scent, sex scent – the special way the scent of desire shared clings.”

“But – you -”

“ _Anything and everything else_ , Kagome-onee-sama. But...uh...if you want to know more about _that_ stuff then you'd probably be better off asking Shiori, yeah?”

Kagome gulps and tries to calm her speeding heart.

“Um – um yes, that might be – that would be – _good_. Is there – anything else?”

“Just things that are common sense, and that you do anyway. Courting is a time to get to know someone you might be bound to forever. I know you're human, so you probably don't think about forever much, but you should now. If you become his, then the energies of your lives will entangle, will mingle and mix. Anything you know about mortal wolves is helpful, but our lives are more intense. We're youkai, Ookami – don't forget it.”

Kagome sees in her mind a flash of memory. Kouga's face smeared with Miroku's blood – scent of copper, taste of Kouga's kiss, taste of destruction -

“I – I won't. Thank you, Hakkaku -”

He shakes his head and stands.

“Don't worry about it, Kagome-onee-sama. You saved Sho, when he had no chance; I'm grateful, and I always will be. And you make Kouga happy; no female's ever done that before, no female's ever attracted his attention. Just – just be careful, yeah?”

She watches him go with mixed feelings, but she takes his warning to heart and then flops back on the ledge and sprawls on her back, staring up at the ceiling.

_Escalate...show him my desire...be with him forever._

Alone in a dark chamber in the den of wolves, Kagome takes a deep breath and covers her face with her hands and then commits herself to following the path her heart has started her on. The truth isn't hard to admit at all – that she _does_ want Kouga, even if she doesn't really understand _forever_. But telling him – _telling him_!

Hakkaku's words echo in her thoughts, and she thinks that they're going to for quite a while.

“ _Rut scent...the special way the scent of desire shared clings._

She lets her hands fall to the bed beside her and lets out a groan of irritation.

“What do I do? What do I _do_?”

* * *

A/N: There we are! I feel better now; and plus, several hundred words of tomorrow's chapter are already done, so yay! Let's see....in case you can't guess, today's chapter title, “In Ignem”, translates to “into the fire”...I know, I'm so clever....sarcasm!  


	54. Ad Hoc

Kagome stays where she is for a while and tries to get over her embarrassment and think clearly. When she gets past the idea of _escalating_ her affection for Kouga, the thing that sticks out at her most is a single word and the promise in it.

 _Forever_.

The implication of what Hakkaku said is astounding, and she almost hesitates to consider it. Forever - energies mixed and mingled - until the end of time – _forever_. Her thoughts are a jumble of hope and confusion. Is what she's thinking the truth, or was Hakkaku just making a metaphor out of what it means to make a life together? She desperately wants what she thinks Hakkaku implied – immortality born of sharing herself with Kouga.

_Can it be true?_

Why else would he have told her so pointedly to consider that such a time span is far beyond the potential of mortal years? Why else have warned her so to be careful?

 _Forever_.

The echo perpetuates itself.

Kagome finds herself wondering how long forever really is; if eternity, like infinity, can even be measured. Year after year will go by. She will experience countless seasons, winters and springs and summers, an endless parade of autumn foliage, the cycle of fruiting and flowering and fading as the world sinks into slumber beneath the snow.

The youkai around her will live as she will live; the humans, like the man Miroku, will not. She is momentarily grateful that she has made only a pair of human acquaintances in this time – and the old woman she hardly knows at all. Kouga wants her forever, and now Kagome knows that he intends to do whatever is necessary to please her, to make her want to stay with him the way he wants to keep her.

_Stay with him -_

“Stay with him. Miroku doesn't think it's a good idea, though. Neither did Kaede, but Miroku's a bit of a twit and Kaede doesn't know Kouga at all. But I wonder....what mama would think?”

A pang strikes her for the first time in several days. _Mama_. Her thoughts drift over Kaede again, over the village of Edo that should be the city of Tokyo. Five hundred years in the future, her family is probably in mourning – but even as the thought crosses her mind she feels a strange chill. What if – what if it doesn't matter that she can't get home _now_? What forever means to her slips past her lips in a sigh.

“Forever means that five hundred years is nothing...”

A wealth of possibilities flood over her all at once. If she chooses Kouga, then one day she'll see her mother again, even if she has to wait to make it happen. If she chooses Kouga -

_No. Stop it, Kagome. What am I thinking? I can't mate Kouga because I'll live longer, that wouldn't be right, that wouldn't be right at all!_

 

  
  


She's already halfway to making the decision Kouga wants, but she won't make that choice for the sake of her own selfish wishes. She can only hope that she's been brought to the past for a reason; that one day she'll have a way to go back.

“Anyway, forever might be something to think about but I've got enough to deal with _now_.”

Kagome lets out a heavy sigh and rolls onto her side. It isn't her feelings that are preventing her from _escalating_ her relationship with Kouga, nor is it fear that he doesn't desire her – he's made that clear enough. It's the thought of what she needs to do to declare that she wants him which holds her back. She wants him to touch her just as she wants to touch him, but she doesn't know if she should, if she's ready, if she's making a mistake.

Another sigh leaks past her lips.

“At least...at least that's not the _first_ thing I have to do. Ask him for things...hm.”

She thinks for a minute and then presses the heels of her hands against her eyes.

“This is going to be harder than I thought! What can I ask for when he's already giving me everything I need?”

* * *

The snow continues to fall. When it stops, it's been a week of nights and eight days since it began, and the valley is covered in so much snow that the many ledges leading up to the heights of the den's entrance look like a long ramp. The river is invisible beneath a frozen blanket of white, and the stands of short, young trees on the further bank look like dwarfs, such is the depth of the snow.

The pups play on the ledges, while their mothers look on with amusement and watch them rolling and tumbling and sinking into the drifts. Elder wolves stare out at the frosted landscape from high ledges, or work within the shadows of the den. No one travels; few go out, hunting – the older pups run at night, tumbling like their season old siblings, but for the most part, the wolves settle into the dim quiet of winter life.

They do not hibernate, but neither are they active like their mortal kin. Kouga's wolves work fine crafts and tell stories, make wine and hone their fighting skills, stitch furs, and cure them, and imbue some of their work with _youki_. By the time the week-long blizzard is over, the wolves have accepted Kagome's presence wherever she chooses to be that day – she wanders by the hour, meeting more of Kouga's pack than she's seen so far. A little at a time, they grow used to Miroku, too; often as not, he is sitting near Kagome, his eyes closed in meditation but his ears open, listening.

Kagome grows used to asking Kouga for things, and after the first few times, and the blinding smile he gives her, she stops feeling bad about it and begins to tease him with her requests. In doing so she enters into the true spirit of the courtship exchange, and Kouga's pleasure knows no bounds.

Something _blue_ , really blue – like the sea, she says. Like the sky in summer – I miss the sky in summer. _Winter is gray and white and black, and I miss the color._ He searches for hours in a dark room by torchlight; when he comes back to her he brings her a handful of sapphires in all the shades of sky there are, and delights in the wonder on her face.

 _Sour – I've got...this terrible craving for something sour, Kouga_ – and while she's sleeping he leaves the den and braves the snow and runs unerringly south. South over land, south over sea; he becomes the whirlwind. He returns ragged at dawn and startles her with his red eyes, with an enormous yawn, and then he tumbles a leather satchel full of gleaming, perfect fruit into her lap. Lemons, glorious yellow; limes with pebbled rinds green as jewels.

One morning, Kouga brings Kagome outside and they join the pups in their play. When he falls off the ledge into a drift she laughs at him with snow in his hair and brushes at his cheek with her fur-mittened fingers.

“It's so cold – wet and cold! It's too bad there's no place warm for us to go – some place where the heat could just melt into my bones and make winter a memory for a while.”

She misses Kouga's grin.


	55. Novis Initiis

South of Echigo, in the western lands beyond Inuyasha's forest, the first hints of winter are making themselves known to travelers there. The snow that buries the mountains does not yet reach out for the forests and fields below, but the wind is chill and the days grow gray and the nights are black with cold.

Together, neither of them much bothered by the weather, Inuyasha and Kikyou seek the shards of the sacred gem, following the unerring pulse of power that beats in Kikyou's breast. Her miko sight, too, leads her through the chill, darkening days, but long before that sense awakens within her she knows the shikon no tama is near.

She wonders why, but Inuyasha has no answer for her and she has no answer for herself. Of the minutes before her resurrection, the shard of the shikon no tama that had come when the witch Urasue had summoned her soul, Kikyou knows nothing. How could she?

Her consciousness begins with Urasue's death, and the memory of her own. As yet, she has not gained much more than that.

She remembers Inuyasha, moments that flicker in her memory, warming her like the flames of a fire. She remembers only small, specific things, no generalities – the texture of his red robe, the way the calluses of his hands feel against her fingertips, the scent of his skin. She remembers fire, and she remembers that there is power within her; the power to protect.

 _Shikon no tama_.

She remembers the shikon no tama.

One night, sitting with Inuyasha outside a street vendor's stall, she hears a rumor that sparks something in her consciousness.

“ _A great cat, feeding on travelers. There hasn't been a problem in those mountains for years – and then all of a sudden, this one youkai just became hugely more powerful. It's a real problem; the mountains are bad enough at this time of year without man eaters on the loose! None of the priests sent by the great temple have been able to do anything about it, either. Doesn't bode well for the new year...”_

“Inuyasha.”

He is still, and though she knows his hearing is too good for him not to have heard her, he doesn't answer.

“Inuyasha, did you hear those men? It means a shikon no tama shard is there.”

“Yeah...”

“You don't care?”

“That's wolf territory. Not the best place to go messing around in, especially in winter. Besides, you wouldn't even be able to walk in the mountains. The snow up there'll be a foot deep already.”

“It's my responsibility, Inuyasha. We have no other leads...and I am not frightened of wolves. You can carry me, if the snow is deep – I remember that you have done so before.”

He scowls at her and then turns his face away.

“You remember that, huh. But nothing else?”

“No.”

“Well – well, yeah, alright, I _could_ carry you, but who says I want to?”

“If you don't, the shard of the shikon no tama will continue to be used for evil. Someone else may kill the beast and claim it, or another youkai might devour the one that possesses it now and then we would have no idea where the shard had gone -”

“I get it! I get it – damn, woman, shut up already. Fine, we'll go – if you want to go so badly. The cat's supposed to be hunting a pass in the mountains north of Echigo. It'll take us days to get there even if I carry you, so we better start now.”

Kikyou steps behind him, and waits until he is ready before she wraps her arms around his shoulders and hitches her legs up. His hands hold her thighs, just beside her knees, and she feels the warmth of his fingers through the silk.

Inuyasha starts off slowly, and then swiftly picks up speed. He travels north by north east, and a little at a time Kikyou leans her head forward until it is resting on his shoulder. Inuyasha says nothing, only continues to run. She falls asleep, lulled by the once-familiar rhythm of his pace.

She dreams of him.

* * *

The sun rises in Echigo, and exposes a flurry of activity. Many wolves are working on one small bundle, arguing with each other about necessities and repacking a single bag many times. In a corner of the main room, Kagome sits and laughs, watching them.

A trio of females wander out of the main passage, their arms full of fur, and Kagome stares with some surprise when they come up to her and try to dress her in the long, warm robes.

“What's – what's going on? Thank you, these are lovely, but a bit hot for indoors don't you think? Or is Kouga having an overprotective day again?”

“I am _not_ overprotective. Not on any day.”

Kagome whirls around and flushes; when did Kouga get behind her? He comes close to her and finishes fastening the robe that the females had put on her.

“You asked me for somewhere warm, didn't you? Well, we're going somewhere – don't ask, I'm not telling, it's a surprise – but to _get_ there, we have to get you through _that_ first.”

He points vaguely behind him toward the opening of the den and outside, and Kagome grins.

“Okay, I'm game – even for a _surprise_ adventure.”

“You're – game?”

Kagome grins and then reaches up on her tiptoes and kisses Kouga's cheek.

“Sorry, I did it again. It's an expression – it means I'm ready for the...challenge.”

“Good! Then if everything is ready -”

He looks out of the corner of his eye and sees that one of the wolves is still fussing with the pack, which looks full to bursting. The figure betrays himself with the spikes of his white mohawk, and gulps when Kouga catches his eye.

“If everything is _ready_...”

“Yes – yes! It's ready -”

From his place beside his brother, Ginta snickers at Hakkaku's discomfiture; Hakkaku only scowls.

“Good. You two, take care of things while I'm gone. It won't be more than four or five days unless it starts to blizzard again – and watch that man! Keep an eye on him, someone watching him all the time.”

Ginta and Hakkaku exchange glances.

“But – who's watching him now?”

“Saya.”

“Sa...ya...”

Ginta and Hakkaku exchange another glance, but this time it is one of confusion. Kouga sees, and shrugs.

“What? She's strong enough – and she thinks he's _funny_. Let her watch him, if she wants, just don't forget what I said. Someone, all the time.”

Kagome watches this byplay with some confusion of her own. Saya – she hasn't met a female by that name, and wonders at it. In the time she has spent here so far, she has met nearly all Kouga's wolves. But _Saya_...no. No, she doesn't remember that name at all.

She resolves to introduce herself when she returns, especially if the female thinks Miroku is funny. Kagome has been around Miroku herself by now that she is aware his humor is...an _acquired_ taste.

“Kagome, are you ready?”

She pulls herself out of her thoughts and nods cheerfully.

“Yes, let's go! I'm looking forward to something warmer.”

* * *

A/N: And I...am not dead! This chapter's title, “Novus Initiis”, translates to “new beginnings”. 


	56. Aquam Calidem

The snow is deep and clean and blinding white, and the smell of it is sharp enough even for Kagome's nostrils. Kouga stops his run for a while at midday and lets her down from his arms to stretch her legs. Not for the first time, Kagome thinks that it would be nice if she had the same speed and endurance as the wolves she has been living with.

When she is tired of stumbling around in the snow, she makes her way back to where Kouga is standing, arms crossed, watching her; his face is to the wind and his expression is troubled, but when he looks down at her there is nothing printed on his features but a smile.

“Ready, Kagome?”

“Oh no, you're not getting off that easy. What's the trouble?”

Kouga scrunches his face in irritation.

“Too sharp, woman, you're too sharp. Nothing, all right? Not – well, not real trouble, just irritation. I smell _dog_.”

“You -”

Kagome blinks.

“You...what?”

“I smell _dog._ Inu. Can't be helped, I suppose, the old bastard's got the place open to everyone...”

Kouga shrugs, and then before Kagome has a chance to ask another question, he picks her up again and turns to the north.

“Hold on tight, Kagome!”

There is no conversation while he's running – not like this. Not in the whirlwind, where the air whips so sharply, so fast, that the cold is a knife of fire where it touches Kagome's cheeks. She tugs the edges of her hood forward further to protect her skin, and presses her cheek against Kouga's shoulder. She closes her eyes to the whirl of white and warm darkness creeps over her, envelopes her in the eye of the storm.

She dreams of snow and red, incongruous.

 _Red, beneath my cheek_.

“Kagome...Kagome!”

 _Red_...

Blue.

She opens her eyes, and is faced with brilliant blue. Kouga's smile is an inch from her face; he kisses her, warm pressure, and then leans backs and lets her down from his arms.

“We're here, Kagome.”

“Here? Where's here?”

Kouga holds her until her legs steady, and then holds her because he can. She turns in his arms, looking around the landscape – white, everywhere the white of gleaming snow and nothing else.

“There's nothing here, Kouga!”

He laughs, and reaches out a hand to cover her eyes.

“What about now?”

For a moment Kagome struggles, but his questions makes her stop and laugh.

“Now it's dark and I can't see anything!”

“And now, Kagome?”

Kouga takes his hand away,. The moon is just coming up over the horizon, and the landscape revealed in the sheen of its light is – magic. _Magic._

“ _Kouga_! What – _how_ -”

He grins, more than pleased with her reaction, and takes her hand to lead her forward across the snow. Dark buildings of gleaming wood stand as if they've always been there when Kagome knows they have not – that a moment ago, the hills were bare and empty. Steam spirals up in more than one place. A fog clings close to the ground, showing greenery where she knows there was a snow just a moment before.

A welcoming light shines from behind a red curtain printed with golden characters – _welcome, relax, welcome, good fortune, happiness, relax, good fortune_ , _welcome_ -

“Welcome, welcome! Kouga-sama, so long since we've had the pleasure of your company – and you've brought a guest, how lovely.”

“Yes, she is. Kagome, meet Kouki. He owns this place. Kouki-san, this is Higurashi Kagome.”

“Welcome, beautiful lady! And a miko – how precious, how rare.”

Kagome stares into his dark eyes, black eyes – they gleam at her from behind the mask of a racoon'sfur, and she is disconcerted by the greed in them, the swift sharp growth of desire. Behind her Kouga tenses – does he see it too? His hands reach out and close around her, draw her back against his chest. She feels his claws against her waist and looks up at him. Through her bangs she sees blue fire in Kouga's gaze, even though he is still smiling.

“Kouki-san, be careful. I am courting the lady, and she has accepted only me.”

“Ah...how sad for me!”

The pressure of Kouga's aura relaxes only a little, and the smiling, dark furred face of their _host_ turns away from them. He pulls the red curtain to one side, and gestures with the other hand – no, other paw. Kagome stares as she walks by even though she knows she shouldn't. Paws, a raccoon's paws –

But then she is distracted by a sudden change in the atmosphere – by enveloping warmth.

“Kouga – Kouga this is an _onsen_ , isn't it!”

She turns to look at him and surprises him in the middle of his smile.

“It _is_. Kouga you're _wonderful_.”

She dances toward him on the tips of her toes, and because he is expecting it he catches her in the kiss she gives him and doesn't let her go. She is embarrassed, to be standing in a hallway in full view of anyone, while Kouga's tongue strokes her lips. Kouki is standing just a few steps away, and she can see _feel_ those gleaming black eyes on her, that inscrutable smile –

But Kouga is _not_ embarrassed. Kouga is anything but. By the time he is done with her Kagome's breath is soft little pants that please him, her eyes bright and smoky with heat. Kouki sidles closer to them, looks up at Kagome and then turns to Kouga as if he has thought better of his words.

“Kouga-sama, will you and the lady be bathing together?”

Kouga cast his gaze at Kagome, hopeful and questioning. His hands are still around her waist and her flush is as dark as he has ever seen it.

“Well, Kagome? Will you come bathe with me?

She licks her lips, tastes his kiss and pauses – is there any reason to say no? Isn't this what she wanted? A way to make it easy on herself, a way to _escalate_ her attention? And there was the heat of her body, and the thought of being alone in this youkai place...

“All right. Yes, I'll – I'll come with you.”

Kouga's smile is wise and full of fangs, and Kouki turns and leads them down a long hall full of _shoji._ There are moving shadows behind the white paper, low voices and laughter, the sounds of water and an endless rustling.

She is so caught up in looking around her that she runs into Kouga's back when they stop. Kouki points, and she looks up at a pair of curtains, dark blue silk this time.

“My lady, on the left you'll find everything you need – and the same for you on the right, Kouga-sama. Please, enjoy your stay.”

Kouki turns and leaves them. Kouga winks at her, and then vanishes behind the curtain on the right. Kagome flushes, more uncertain now than ever – what was she thinking? Can she even do this? But clenches her fists and puts up her chin and stalks forward through the curtain anyway. She thinks of Kouga's kiss, and everything he does for her – she thinks about everything Hakkaku has told her, and takes a deep breath.

One garment at a time she disrobes, and then reaches for a towel and wraps it around her and marches out the other side of the changing room and into a whirling of mineral steam.

For all her posturing, she's glad to see that Kouga isn't there yet, and she moves fast to the side of the water, casts aside her towel and then slips in with a splash and a yelp.

“ _Hot_!”

Once she is settled against the wall of the spring, she is quite pleased with herself. Right up until the moment Kouga comes striding out, she feels like she's dodged a bullet – but if she had been thinking she would have thought that maybe it was better for him to see _her_ coming.

Instead she had to watch him, dry mouth and heart suddenly in her throat. There was nothing modest about him – he hadn't even put his towel around his waist, carried it casually in one hand and tossed it beside hers when he was close enough. She tried, but she couldn't keep herself from staring at his nakedness.

He was gorgeous, perfect and gorgeous, and she felt suddenly like she could never be good enough – like she should just run away.

  
  


A/N: Ah what a failure I am! I've been so involved with editing my debut novel and working on book two of it's series that I haven't written any fanfiction at all for...well, too long. So my apologies to all of you and never fear – nothing is discontinued. I'm sending in a draft of edits tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have a week or two to work on chapters before I get sucked into the endless process of doom again! My thanks to all of you who have reviewed and sent me messages – fear not! The story shall go on! This chapter's title, “Aquam Calidem”, translates to “Hot Water”. More soon!

Please Review!


	57. Semper Primus

Kouga lowers himself into the hot water of the spring slowly, his eyes on Kagome's face the whole while. Has he ever seen a female turn so red before? He doesn't think so. Kagome's flush is a charming thing, an innocence he will enjoy for as long as it lasts...but that won't be very long, not if he has his way.

He can only take her acceptance of this moment in one way, the way she wants him to take it – and the sight of desire naked on her face is almost too much for him. Kouga distracts himself with the heat of the water, with counting the steam-damp curls that cling to her neck and shoulders. With following the drops of water that condense on her throat and slide down her skin until they meld with the water of the spring that hides her body from him with ripples and steam.

He licks his lips, then stands and cross through the water to stand before her. He reaches out and touches her face with one hand, draws his thumb across her cheek and looks at her with a serious expression.

“Will you let me look at you, Kagome?”

She is terrified in the instant of his question, feels like she can count her imperfections without even having to look down at the skin she's in. Compared to him, compared to anything youkai – what is she? Just a human, just a teenager...but then, there's no such thing as teenager in the _sengoku jidai_.

She looks up at Kouga and it takes all her courage to nod; is the gleaming smile she receives in return worth it? _Maybe_.

Kouga reaches down and takes her by the waist, lifts her with one smooth motion and sets her on the side of the spring. Her body is flushed red by the heat of the water already, and she is spared her embarrassment showing. Despite herself, Kagome finds her eyes tracking Kouga, looking where he is looking, waiting for some word, some reaction -

She feels heat skim her skin where his gaze touches her. Breasts, nipples, the shivering skin of her belly and her parted thighs...

She takes a deep breath and drags her eyes up his body, away from the thickness of his erection, meets his gaze and the blue that smolders there, raw fire. It shows her a gateway into the essence of his being, everything that he wants of her, everything he will give to her.

His fingers, calloused and clawed, reach out for her ankles, draw up the back of her calves. Then he starts and steps back from her, speaks in a voice that is low and heavy with desires she is just beginning to understand.

“Kagome...beautiful, the most beautiful – Kagome -”

Her fear evaporates. She remembers that she need not worry about him _taking_ her, remembers that until she tells him she will be his forever all he will do is whatever she allows. Kagome feels a shiver at the weight of that thought, the power it gives her. Her nipples grow tight and tingling. There is wetness between her thighs that comes not from the water.

“You can – you can touch me, Kouga.”

His hands reach out and rest lightly on her legs, something hesitant in the motion, and Kagome reaches out and takes his face between her hands, pulls him close and kisses him, speaks against his lips.

“ _Please touch me, Kouga._ ”

Heat of her breath on his lips, heat of her words in his ears – it is like a dream, a dream he has dreamed many times, now dragged into reality. Kouga pulls Kagome close to him, crushes her against his body, then leans back in the next instant, teases her lips open with his tongue and kisses her the way he knows makes her wanton.

Kouga takes Kagome's permission, her desire, and lets it lead his fingers where they want to go, strokes the length of her legs, lifts the soft weight of her breasts in his hands, toys with her nipples and sets her rocking against him, seeking surcease for a terrible internal heat. The scent of her desire is thick around them. He feels dampness on his thigh, pressed between her legs, and the throbbing of his own arousal in response.

“ _I want to do more than take you._ I want to always be first – first to touch you, first to tease you...first to please you. Do I please you, Kagome?”

“You know – you know you do -”

Kouga licks her lips, not a kiss but something more teasing. For the first time, he slips his fingers into the soft wetness of her sex and strokes her, teases the opening of her body and the hard, tiny pearl above it. He draws cries from her, this new pleasure so intense, so all-consuming. The sight of her, eyes closing, limbs trembling, the points of her nipples tight peaks, her legs spread wide to give him access to her body – it's so beautiful it's painful.

“And _now_ , Kagome?”

His fangs make dents in the skin of her throat, and her answer is a moan, her hands reaching out to hold him.

“Yes – _yes_ –“

“I want to give you more, Kagome.”

“ _More_...”

She draws out the word, blinks at him, wonders if more is even possible – but he has taken her repetition as agreement, and now he is on his knees in the hot water at the edge of the spring, looking up at her.

“K-Kouga?”

He reaches out with careful fingers and spreads her sex open to his gaze, pink petals slick with sweetness; he wants it. It isn't until his tongue touches her that she knows what it is he's doing. Rough warmth – pleasure that sets her gasping almost from the first moment. His tongue is eager, greedy, and she feels the heat of it penetrate her, then sweep upwards again, focusing where his fingers had touched her before.

She isn't ready for these feelings, the heat of so many delicious sensations, the flood of pleasure that tingles across her nerves, rising like a swift tide from her toes to the place where Kouga's tongue touches her body. She clutches his shoulders, slides her fingers into his hair and holds him still between her thighs, slips higher and higher on the flickering of his tongue.

The crash comes over her in a tsunami of sensation, all things blended together – white fire behind her eyelids, and the blue fire of Kouga's gaze on her when she can see – fire between her thighs, pulsing in nerves she had no awareness of before this moment –

Everything is fire, for which the heat of the water as she slides down into Kouga's arms is no relief. He murmurs soothing words she hears only as a faint buzz of sound, slides his fingers across her back, her shoulders, kisses her, gentle now, every motion restrained. There's a ledge at the side of the spring, and he lets her sink down to sit on it beside him.

After a moment she blinks at him, then smiles. Her movements feel lazy.

“Kouga – Kouga you...”

“ _I please you_.”

It isn't a question this time. His voice is rough and husky. The thickness of his erection presses heavy against her as he draws her close, and without thinking Kagome reaches for it, for him, feels silk over steel, hears him groan and tighten his grasp on her, then lean back.

“ _Kagome_.”

He pulls himself up to the side of the spring, lets his thighs fall apart and shivers as she explores his difference with her fingers, strokes awkwardly at first and then with a rhythm that his groans tell her he finds pleasing. He says her name, over and over, a shudder in his voice. The muscles in his thighs twitch and tighten. His breath grows heavy and fast. 

Kagome licks her lips, and then, because she wants to, because the taste of his skin beckons her, because she knows his mouth on her was a gorgeous sensation, she leans forward and licks the head of his straining erection, dark above her fist.

Thickness throbs in her hand. She licks again, and then again – he tastes like water and autumn and salt and then bitterness, white, sweet bitterness that streams across her tongue, across her fingers, as Kouga's hands tighten in her hair and a long, groaning growl spills out of his throat.

For a moment, there is only heavy breathing, Kouga's pants and Kagome's breathless desire. He slips down into the water beside her again, washes her hands clean in the spring and pulls her close to his side.

 _Kagome_. 

Kouga presses his lips against the top of her head, and feels her yawn, breath moving over his skin. The water is soothing, and Kouga leans his head back and looks up at the sky, bright stars overhead that flicker and glow through the steam.

He wraps an arm around Kagome, feels her head against his chest.

How long before she is his forever?

How long until she says _yes_?

 _Let it be soon, Kagome_.

 


	58. Malum Discordae

 

In the morning, there is snow. Darkness stretches over them, clouds perpetuating the night. Kouga shrugs and brings Kagome back with him into the _onsen_ , reminds her that he warned Ginta and Hakkaku that they would be delayed if there was snow.

“Think of it as a holiday, Kagome. The food is good, and the water is hot – that's nothing to complain about.”

How can she argue with that? Kouki brings them meat and fruit and rice, beautifully arranged; hot sake on floating trays for while they're bathing; cold sake in elegant bottles with their meals. Strange sweets and liquors, rich desserts and fine robes appear in the beautiful rooms she shares with Kouga.

For a few days, Kagome loses herself in exploration of this unaccustomed decadence. They are days of hot water and new pleasures; it becomes a game for him, to find new ways to surprise her, new ways to redden her cheeks – new ways to draw the sounds past her lips that he finds so enticing.

She is not fully prepared for the way Kouga responds to her new allowance – to what he interprets as new freedoms.  It was what she meant – what she intended, in one sense.  An escalation...the wolfish signal he has been waiting for, that tells him she is pleased with his courting.

Yet now in the morning he wakes her with the tickling of his unbound hair between her thighs, warm breath on warm flesh, the tongue she still cannot decide is divine or demonic. He wakes her with pleasure, with the pressure of his fingers on her thighs, urging them apart – the second morning she is dreaming of him, dreaming of the way he touches her, and the dream merges into reality so subtly, so cleanly, that she doesn't know if she's come undone in his arms or the dream.

Sometimes he lets her wake a little first.

Sometimes he holds her still and doesn't stop until her trembling nerves no longer respond.

Sometimes she holds him there, begging him to go on.

Morning and night, she feels the throbbing emptiness inside her more, the emptiness she knows he'll fill the day he mates her. Internally, she moves a little closer to saying yes, to giving in.

Only one word stops her – _forever_ – and what that might really mean.

#

One day, things happen that change Kagome's world forever. The previous night her dreams were restless, disturbed with visions of red and gold, snow and cold and a face she thought she should recognize, a face that disappeared as soon as she woke.

Kouga, too, slept poorly – but in the morning he knows why, has concrete reasons for his disturbance that escape Kagome's senses. The smell of _dog_ that troubled him on the way here is thick and omnipresent, and he knows that whatever Inu was near, it has come here, to this place.

He wrinkles his nose and stays well away from the center of that scent, comforts Kagome when she wakes and distracts himself with her. He is distracted, irritated, and she can't but help to notice his feelings – when she asks, he has to answer or risk her thinking she's upset him.

“It's an Inu, Kagome. Mutts and wolves don't get along, and I don't want trouble when I've got you with me.”

“And any other time?”

He smiles. Some of the tension leaves him, and he brings Kagome into the water with him.

“One last bath – and then I think we should get ready and go.”

“What about the snow?”

“Stopping, I think – now come here, woman. My woman...weather's not what I want to worry about.”

#  
Inuyasha is not worried about bathing, even if the warmth is welcome after the snow that's dogged his steps the last few days. He is alone in the water, alone behind the steam – he is thinking about the words of the _Tanuki_ that had greeted him.

 _“Another miko, so like the first...what an interesting week this is._ ”

With his eyes closed and his senses drifting outward, Inuyasha can feel the truth of this statement, the repressed glow that is Kikyou and the brighter glow that is...someone _else_. The taste of that other power is familiar to him, and that is why he lingers here, _feeling_ it. He doesn't know how he knows it, or why – only that he does. It is as familiar to him as Kikyou – it almost _is_ Kikyou, but denser, more brilliant, sharper...

_Who are you, miko?_

Abruptly he stands and lets the water sluice from his body, takes his towel and dries himself roughly, quickly. That power is in motion, and so is Kikyou. He can hear her retreating from the room beside the  baths, the rustle of her silks, her distinctive footsteps. He pulls his _kosode_ onto damp skin and curses it for clinging, drags on the robe of the fire rat and runs out after Kikyou, still in the process of tying it closed.

He finds her in the hallway, standing still as a statue, staring forward with her hand outstretched. Before her, like a mirror image, stands another woman – another miko -

She is Kikyou's twin in all but the blue of her eyes and the greater glow of her power. That she is _alive_ , a human woman with a beating heart, makes her look more like the memory of Kikyou than the strange version of his old lover that he has traveled with.

He remember Kaede's warning, about a woman who looked like her sister, a woman who wasn't her but  - but _how_? Behind her is a wolf, Ookami with blazing eyes more blue than the woman's. What was the name? What was the name Kaede had said -

 _Kouga_.

The eyes of this Kouga are on him, dark and displeased, but in a moment both he and Inuyasha are distracted by their women.

Kikyou is reaching out her fingers, and so too her blue-eyed twin – from the touch between them comes a spark of light, and they speak in the same moment, voices alike but different.

“You – you are me.”

“I was dreaming of you!”

There is a moment in which everything is still but the stare between them, Kikyou and the woman whose name Inuyasha does not know.

Then they fall, the two of them together, and he learns it even as he moves forward with his arms outreached.

“ _Kagome!_ ”


	59. Vigilans Somniat

Kikyou sleeps, and dreams, and learns. Her own name, her own nature – what she had been and done in the time that had belonged to her. The time that had been _meant_ to belong to her. As she learns who she is, who she _was_ , she learns _what_ she is now, and the knowledge is a burning weight that grows in her.

A girl who grew to be a miko, when all she wanted was a woman's life. A girl who grew into a great and deadly power; a miko who was given the duty to protect a more terrible power still. A miko who lost herself and her duty because of love – soft feelings – promises.

 _I was willing to give it all up for you, Inuyasha_.

She remembers his betrayal, but she knows now that it wasn't him. She remembers his passionate defense of himself before her sister, words she understands now even if she didn't then.

_And I hurt him, thinking..._

Even in the dream she feels pain. Tears leak out of her eyes and for the second time startle a watching Inuyasha – why does she cry if she is not human?

Kikyou shares that question.

 _What am I, really_?

She died, and what she has now is neither life nor death. She died, but the price she paid was not enough. The proof of that is in Kagome's presence, in the fact that she is here, now – her own future standing before her, fingers outstretched. She can feel the gleaming presence of the shikon no tama in Kagome's body, Kagome's presence, Kagome's power.

As she knows herself she knows Kagome, the life of the girl who has come to her from an impossible future, a distance greater than she can comprehend. _Five hundred years_. What will be changed by the presence of this girl in the past, only the _kami_ know. Kikyou has only suspicions, tangled thoughts, and a single comfort.

The girl is wholly devoted to her Kouga. She loves him undivided, a singleness of purpose that Kikyou can only wonder at and admire. Has she ever been so _intent_ , so willful, about anything? What is it that has happened in five hundred years to so change her soul?

_What are the lessons of my life?_

She descends through memory as through mist.

#

Kagome, too, is sleeping. Her dreams begin awash with panic and terror, but it ebbs a little at a time until she is empty, becoming used to the strangeness of what is happening around her. She questions, though she dreams – questions the reality of what she is seeing, the _who_ and the _what_ and the _why_. She sees the life of the woman who stood before her, her doppelganger -

Kikyou, the miko of Edo, guardian of the shikon no tama.

She comes to know the woman Kaede as the child she had been, comes to know the red robed stranger as Inuyasha. He is familiar to her, and she learns, a little at a time, why – because Kikyou had loved him, had lost him. Because Kikyou was _her_ in another life. Within her awareness the fact awakens on its own, unsought, unasked for – truth, all the same. A bright line of connection is tied between them, Kagome and the woman she had once been.

She sees the last moments of that other being, something akin to memory but not her own. She sees the flames gather about Kikyou's flesh, and the gleaming of the jewel clasped between her still, pale fingers. She knows it for what it is, though she has never seen it whole and perfect before now.

_Shikon no tama. Burned with her, and born in me._

The knowledge is strong in her, and against it Kagome clings to her own memories, her own truths – what is the past is the past, and _now_ is hers, only hers. She will not share her being, her identity. She makes a decision even dreaming that will come to affect her in the days to come.

_Kikyou is Kikyou, and Kagome is Kagome, and I am Kagome – and no one else._

The words resonate, truth deeper than truth, a whole being in and of itself. As the images fade to darkness, memories and dreams both receding into dark, there is only a single thing that she does not understand. Within Kikyou there is a point of light that calls to her – and within herself, and Kouga, and somewhere near the hanyou Inuyasha.

She knows they are shards of the shikon no tama; she can feel them, the bright pulse that she has grown accustomed to sensing from Kouga and from within herself.

Why does the hanyou have them? For strength, like Kouga?

_But if that's so...then why is there one in Kikyou?_

#

To Kouga, there are few things more unacceptable than the smell and presence of an Inu. That the one he has encountered is only hanyou, half Inu and half human, all things diluted...

It makes no difference at all.

When Kagome falls, he cries out her name and is beside her in an instant, hands under her shoulders, sweeping her up against his chest. The scent of her is clean confusion, priceless power subdued into a low, wavering ebb. His eyes fall dark on the hanyou and his _creature_ , shape of woman, scent of death -

If Kouga could prove that they are responsible for the danger he senses he would slay them, here and now, no questions, no guilt...

But there is Kagome to consider, her feelings and her health before all other things.

He stares down at her, smiling as if asleep, her brow wrinkled, her eyes roving beneath their lids. He looks up at the hanyou and sees the confusion and panic on his face, scents terror beneath the rough musk of Inu.

“Kikyou? Kikyou, what's wrong with you? Kikyou? Kikyou!”

There is no answer forthcoming, and Kouga finally growls an order when he can't take those cries any more.

“Enough! Shut up, stupid mutt – can't you see that's not helping?”

The hanyou scowls, ears drooping, eyes narrowing, fangs bared.

“And what d'ya think I should do, huh?”

“I don't know.”

It pains Kouga to admit it.

“But shouting at her isn't going to do anything, that much should be obvious by now.”

Undecided, vacillating from one possibility to the next, Kouga finally stands with Kagome in his arms and gestures curtly with a jerk of his head.

“This way, come on. There's something – something's off about this. They were fine until they touched,  my woman and yours. I don't like it, but we better keep them together.”

Kouga turns and makes his way back down the hall the way he has come. He doesn't look to see if the hanyou is following him.

After a moment he hears the footsteps he was waiting for.


	60. Nil Desperandum

Minutes pass, then hours. Still, Kouga has only questions, no answers. He sits in the beautiful rooms that Kagome has stayed in, holds her in his arms and counts her breaths. He listens to her heartbeat, slow pulses; he wonders if she is dreaming or awake under the spell of some dark power.

“Kagome...Kagome wake up. Can you hear me, Kagome?”

No response, no shift in her sleeping breaths, the rhythm of her being. Nothing changes, as nothing has changed for hours.

He lifts his eyes from Kagome's face and turns to observe the hanyou, sitting with his own _creature_ , attending to her as closely as he attends to Kagome. There is something awkward in the young Inu's movements, something strained about the way his eyes have fixated on those features, human in seeming even if they are _not_.

Occasionally, Kouga sees those golden eyes stray to Kagome's face – wonder in them, and questions, and confusion, and greed.

Kouga understands everything, even the last. He has his suspicions about the nature of the creature that is the hanyou's companion. He can smell the odor of death, ashes and bones – he can smell, too, the power of _shikon no tama_. He is used to it; it is Kagome's scent as much as it is the scent of the gem.

He suspects magic, a reanimated being – he does not know the method or the maker of such powers, but he has heard of them and other things...stranger things. That she looks like Kagome, this _Kikyou_ – it could be coincidence but he thinks not.

He thinks it is something to do with the way they looked at each other, the way they look _like_ each other that has caused this crisis.

He thinks the hanyou's greed is because Kagome has a heartbeat. Kagome is _alive._

_If only she will stay that way -_

“Kagome...please wake up, Kagome.”

#  
  
 ** _Darkness._**

_Deep breaths._

**_One...Two...Three..._ **

_It's very cold here._

**_So Very Warm._ **

_I wonder if Kouga is waiting for me. I wonder...where I am?_

**_Inuyasha?_ **

_Darkness -_

**_Deep Breaths._ **

“Kagome...please wake up, Kagome -”

_Kagome?_

**_Who Is...Kagome?_ **

_I know that voice._

“Kagome wake up!”

**_But who is -_ **

_I am Kagome!_

Like ice shattering – the truth. The blackness, splintered by a single fragment of light. The voice of her own thoughts is in Kagome, and with it is some other voice, but she _knows_.  She knows herself, and she remembers claiming herself.

With all her will, with everything she _is_ , Kagome pushes back the darkness.

_Strain against the night -_

**_Together!_ **

The other voice is with her, voice of a stranger, familiar as the heat of her own blood. Kouga's voice is with her, warmth and strength and power.

“Kagome!”

She sucks in a breath that stabs her lungs like fire, deep and sharp and quick. She opens her eyes and sees Kouga's face above her, his mouth still open on the last syllable of her name. Nothing has ever been so welcome to her as that fire and the look of him, love and panic – all for her.

She breathes out, and then in again. The fire passes, and she feels a tingling on her skin that passes too -  then a warmth that doesn't, Kouga's hands passing over her, touching her everywhere, everywhere, her cheeks, her arms, her legs, her back, her hair.

“Kagome – Kagome are you -”

“I'm fine, Kouga.”

Kagome turns, and sees the woman whose face had accompanied her into unconsciousness – her own face, only slightly changed. Beside her is an Inu-hanyou, and in an instant a thousand memories flash across Kagome's thoughts.

Inuyasha-

_Inuyasha..._

**INUYASHA!**

The name rushes in her consciousness, echoes upon echoes. Kagome presses her hands against her ears, recoils back against Kouga's body, squeezes her eyes shut as if she can block out the noises – but they are coming from inside her own head. They are coming from everywhere and nowhere, memories not her own, only recently gained.

Kouga shelters her in his arms, but he cannot protect her from this. Only a single thought streams through her consciousness, a plea with spirits or gods unknown.

_Please, please if I could only think, if I could just hear myself think – if I could just make it go away, please, make it go away, I wish I could make it go away -_

Silence, within and without.

Slowly, she pulls her hands away from her ears. Slowly, she looks up from where she has hunched over,  curled into Kouga, and turns her eyes a little at a time in the direction of the hanyou.

 _Inuyasha_.

She thinks the name carefully. Within her are bright flashes, but all are subdued, indistinct, no longer a howl of words and images.

“Kagome?”

Kouga's voice is low and full of worry.

“Sorry -”

A woman's voice interrupts Kagome's apology.

“How did you do that?”

Kagome watches Kikyou push herself to her feet using Inuyasha's arm. She is shaking, pale – her eyes are brown and Kagome thinks how strange it is to see her own face with such dark eyes.

“How did – what did I do, Kikyou-san?”

“How did you stop the noise?”

“You heard it too!”

“ _Kagome_.”

“But you stopped it.”

“Yeah, but I'm not sure how – I just really, really didn't want to hear it anymore. That hurt -”

“Kagome!”

She turns back to Kouga and smiles.

“What is it, Kouga? I'm all right now -”

He is giving her the strangest look she has ever seen on his face.

“Kagome – how do you know that woman? How do you know her _name_?”

Kagome blinks, turns to look at Kikyou for a moment and then shrugs.

“I've never met her before today, but now I know _everything_ about her. I think...I think I used to be her.”

“You...used to...what?”

It is Kikyou who answers, while Kagome only smiles and nods.

“That girl – Kagome is my reincarnation. She and I share the same _essence_ , the same soul. Still...we are not the same. No, I do not think we are the same.”

Kikyou steps forward, sways a little without Inuyasha's support, then steadies herself.

“Five hundred years is a long, long time. What is it that you are becoming, to be so different from me?”

Kagome flushes and shrugs again, turns her face away.

“I don't – I don't know what you mean!”

“Of course you do. I know what you know, I know there are shards of shikon no tama in your flesh, I know you brought it here, and how...”

Kikyou smiles faintly.

“This is the same way that you know everything of me, is that not so?”

Kagome matches that smile, but uneasiness is creeping up on her despite it.

Inuyasha is staring at her, gold eyes so familiar, expression so full of...something. _What is it?_ It is almost like the way that Kouga looks at her, but something is wrong about it – something...is just _not right_.

She leans against Kouga, feels his arms come around her, and closes her eyes.

He leans down to press his cheek against her cheek, speaks softly enough that she can barely hear him.

“I was worried, Kagome. I thought I was losing you.”

Kagome turns her lips to his mouth, kisses him gently.

“ _Kouga_. You won't lose me, not if I can help it.”


	61. Non Extinguetur

Kouga smiles the widest smile of his life, feels his heart beating against his ribs, the rhythm of a thousand drums wild and loose in his chest.

_You won't lose me, not if I can help it._

Kagome's words stir all that he feels for her to life within him, so much glow of love that Inuyasha blushes and turns his back, and Kikyou must look away – it hurts too much to see what she will never have.

Kagome is content merely to be, awake and whole, safe in her _self_ again. There are questions, but they are all beneath the surface, condensing in their own time beneath the weight of new knowledge she now possesses. Her mind is sorting strangeness automatically, new things that come to light in flickers and pass out of her awareness almost before she can process them. Look at Kikyou's face – _flick_ , and a flash of something red – look at Kouga, and even the memory of that _flick_ is faded, almost gone.

She can already see that this is something that will take careful management, and might never be useful. While she knows Kikyou now, and even Inuyasha through her, she still feels no _trust_ , no connection beyond that which fate has made for them.

The first question comes to her, on the heels of that thought, and she speaks it aloud without a specific person in mind – it affects all of them, really.

“So what are we going to do now? What does this mean for us?”

#

Kouga turns to Kagome, surprised – what has changed, now that she is awake? What is she asking?

He casts his gaze over their two guests, sees something in Kikyou's eyes that intuits understanding; the hanyou's face is blank, his eyes averted – he is thinking thoughts, that much is plain, but Kouga doesn't know what they might be.

“Kagome, nothing is changed. We have responsibilities, a journey home to make. The snow has already kept us longer than I planned.”

“Keh. Like it matters to us! Kikyou and I have our own business -”

“No! You've got shikon shards, and if they're your business then it _is_ my business!”

Kagome scowls at Inuyasha, but he only turns his nose up at her and looks away. It is disrespect in more than one way, and Kouga feels it sharply.

“Hanyou! Apologize! You won't speak to my woman that way -”

Inuyasha sneers, crosses his arms, shrugs.

“Why do I care whose woman she is? Who are you, anyway?  _Kouga_. Kaede talked about you -”

Kikyou reaches out a hand, cool, calming, speaks Inuyasha's name in a placating tone.

“You shouldn't be rude, Inuyasha – they're our hosts – and you heard what I said about this girl...”

Kouga feels his teeth with his tongue, sharp in his mouth.

“You should listen to her, hanyou. Apologize!”

Under the pressure of Kouga's stare, Kikyou's hand, Inuyasha turns stiffly to Kagome and makes the briefest, shallowest bow she has ever seen.

“Sorry – for _insulting_ you.”

It isn't much, but Kouga can scent Kagome's irritation, her impatience with all this – does she not care? Did she not want him to defend her? There are a hundred questions there, but in front of this audience is not the place to ask them. He swallows his anger and steps back, but his stare is unwavering, focused on the hanyou's eyes. If he could only transmit all that he is thinking without words -

But the stare will have to do – _for now_.

Kikyou speaks up again, calming, soothing, logical.

“Kagome is right, Inuyasha. Our business is her business, as long as we are seeking the shards of the shikon no tama. Its guardianship is no longer mine to claim. It has passed to her – along with almost everything else.”

“Hey -”

“Give her our shards, Inuyasha!”

Kouga is surprised to see white shock on the hanyou's face. What startles him so much? As if against his will, Kouga watches five clawed Inu fingers jerk into the red sleeve of the hanyou's robe and pull out a tiny leather bag.

#

Inuyasha pulls the thong that holds the bag of shards closed, and lets it fall open in his palm. Six shards, four large, two small, sit gleaming pink and precious on the dark leather. The shine of them reflects brightly in four pairs of eyes, and Inuyasha holds out his hand abruptly, thrusts the shards at Kagome.

“Here! Take them!”

Kagome looks uncertainly at Kouga. She knows what will happen if she takes them in her hands, can already feel the wriggling intensity of their movement in her flesh.

“I – maybe Kouga should -”

But it is too late. Inuyasha reaches out a hand for one of hers and jerks her forward six inches, upends the bag in her hands and then jolts backwards as what she knows is coming begins. Kikyou's voice sounds from behind Inuyasha, soft but imperative, turning him back to watch.

A half dozen shards of the shikon gem disappear into Kagome's flesh, sink beneath her skin in a hum of pink brilliance. The flesh they leave behind is smooth and pale, unmarked by any sign of the bubbling disturbance that had pulled the shards out of sight.

Kagome is breathing hard now, nauseous not from sensation but from watching the shards disappear. Like the last time, and the first which she does not remember, the moment the shards vanish she ceases to feel them. The presence of their power is with her, but not a single nerve is nudged by the jewel inside her.

She looks up and sees Inuyasha's eyes on her, perplexed and fearful. On Kikyou's face is only expectation confirmed, and Kagome feels a certain sense of betrayal in that.

“You knew!”

Her finger, outstretched, points accusingly at the other woman.

“You knew that would happen – why did you make him give them to me?”

“I did not know, only suspected. Why does it bother you? You are the guardian of the shikon no tama. One way or another, it will come to be with you, within you – where it belongs.”

Kikyou steps forward, takes Kagome's hand in her own, lays her fingers over the individual pieces of gem. Kagome hears her voice, urgent and thoughtful, a pressure against her mind and not her ears.

“ _Don't you know that it is as much a part of you as your own soul? That it is bound up with you, seeking you – as you are seeking it? It belongs to you far more than it ever did to me.”_

Kagome steps back, and her hand slips out of Kikyou's, falls limp to her side.

_Bound up with me?_

She has thought only a little of what the shikon no tama means to her, but the tiniest contemplation is enough to tell her Kikyou is right. Without even a, moment's pause, she had decided Inuyasha's shards were her business. Since the day Kouga had given her the bags of shards to hold onto, she has protected them – or at least kept them in her possession, a burden she isn't often conscious of.

_And how does Kikyou know so much about this stuff?_

More flickers assault her, fragments of memories – a temple, much learning, scrolls long enough to unroll across a wide hall...

She makes an impulsive decision then, and reaches out to take Kikyou's hand again.

“Kouga, I'm going to take Kikyou for a bath – we need some time for girl talk. Why don't you figure out with Inuyasha what we should do next? I think...I think that Kikyou and I should stay together, for the time being at least.”

She smiles for Kouga, a smile to ease his obvious uncertainty, then pulls Kikyou with her out into the hall and toward the bath.


	62. Modus Vivendi

 

An uncomfortable silence grows between Kouga and Inuyasha after their women leave. Kouga does not like Inu – nothing about them, not their scent, not their arrogance, not the way generations of their kind have flaunted their power. A growl haunts his throat. This is an uneven rupture in the passage of the soft time he’s shared with Kagome – he _does not like it_. His eyes remain on the hanyou beside him, but his senses are tuned to Kagome, her scent, her sounds, her safety.

Inuyasha knows nothing of his own kind, and thus nothing of Kouga’s trouble. In the bitter briefness of his youth he had learned nothing of youkai, nothing of the Inu half of his bloodline and the feuds it carried with it. He doesn’t like Kouga, but that is because Kouga’s presence, his woman’s presence – _that Kagome_ – they have undone the fragile threads of control he has built around his life.

How to live now, when things, once again, are changing? Inuyasha doesn’t know, and knows even less how to put his thoughts and feelings into words. Instead he sits in silence, listening for the slightest hint of trouble from Kikyou’s direction. Appearances can be deceiving – he has learned that enough times. And that girl…nothing about her is right. Her eyes, her voice, her manner - how can she be Kikyou’s reincarnation when Kikyou is _right here_? And if she is, doesn’t that mean that she is more _Kikyou_ than the copy that had found him?

Inuyasha wonders if he could grow used to looking at a Kikyou with blue eyes.

He is missing the point entirely, the thing that Kikyou said herself. _“She and I share the same essence…but we are not the same_.” His thoughts are only on the shape of her face – the scent of her power. The way the shikon no tama, which he covets above all other things, seems to be a part of her…or becoming so.

_Shards sucked through her skin – what was that?_

Each of them in silent thoughts, uncomfortable, disquieted, they sit, waiting.

#

It is like looking into a mirror – and yet it is not. Kagome stares at Kikyou’s face, the placid lines of it…it is _her face_ , but she can’t remember ever seeing herself with an expression like that. More than calm…less than empty. _So strange. Part of my own soul. The past…_

Images flicker through her awareness, faster – faster – _faster –_ she cannot control or contain them, can only stare forward as blankly as Kikyou. Few things stay within her consciousness long enough for her to grasp them, but what she sees is disturbing. _Inuyasha._ Without knowing him, she knows the sensation of his kiss. The warmth behind the gruffness – _Inuyasha, the one she loves. The miko of Edo, on the edge of breaking all her vows –_

Then, in startling contrast to that private moment, Kagome hears a terrible cry, Kikyou’s voice impassioned with the fire and fury of a living woman. _“You betrayed me, Inuyasha!_ ” And a scattering of light that Kagome knows comes from the _hama no ya_.

She shakes her head, tries to dispel the spinning images – despite herself, she can do nothing until they are gone, a whole life that does not belong to her spun out within the soul that does.

“Kikyou, you –“

The words cancel themselves in her throat and leave Kagome with nothing, because all of her questions are too personal, are wrong –

“You shouldn’t worry, Kagome. You are me, and I am you, though we are not and may not be one again. It depends on how kind you are, Kagome.”

“How – kind…”

Kikyou shifts through the water, through the steam, comes close enough that Kagome flushes and turns her head aside. How awkward this is!

“ _Look at me_.”

Kikyou’s voice is quiet, but commanding, and Kagome obeys. Her gaze focuses despite herself, not on Kikyou’s face, but on the glow beneath the surface of her skin, one point of light – _shikon no tama._

“Yes. You see it, don’t you? Of course you do.”

Kikyou presses two fingers against the spot, speaks in contemplative tones.

“I have been thinking, while I sat here with you – do you know what you have given me, Kagome? Do you know what you have taken away?”

Kagome is startled, but Kikyou does not allow her time to speak.

“I remembered nothing of my life before you came, except bits and pieces of my time with Inuyasha…he was with me. He spoke to me. He was close to me – perhaps that is why. Yet now that I remember, I know too many things that I would rather not know. I know that I am not alive, not human. I have no heartbeat, no blood in my veins – no veins, if there was blood. I am a hollow shell, not a woman…animate, maybe. Moving, thinking, feeling…but only a speck of soul.”

She closes her eyes, and Kagome cannot help herself. She reaches out a hand for Kikyou’s chest, presses her palm against it, listens with her flesh. _Nothing_. She didn’t think there would be something – knew better, knew the truth just as Kikyou did, but…

“You’re still _you_ , Kikyou. The body isn’t what matters, you know –“

“Oh, I know. How I know – _now_.”

For a moment Kikyou was silent, poised in utter stillness, captured in a moment of regret.

“But don’t you see, Kagome? This body is nothing. I know the magics that made it, I know dark power and their uses…if my soul was trapped here, even a fragment of it, there would have been far less trouble, and it would be far more like flesh. But _I do not feel_. I am only…aware. I wonder, Kagome. Would I _be_ aware if not for the shard of jewel inside me?”

Kikyou’s stare gains intensity, purpose. Kagome returns it with bewildered look, confused, out of her depth. _She does not feel? Her soul…I don’t understand. I don’t understand._ There is something that Kikyou wants her to understand. Something about the jewel inside her – inside them both.

“I don’t – Kikyou, if you’re trying to tell me something you’re just going to have to say it. I’m no good at riddles –“

“I do not know the answer to my question, Kagome. It is a thing that worries, me that is all. Should it worry you, too? Perhaps. There is far more brightness in you than in me. _Far more_. But something tells me that as it was born within you, the shikon no tama _belongs_ within you. It is what that means for me that worries me, Kagome.”

“I won’t take it – the shard inside you, I mean.”

Kikyou meets Kagome’s glance with a sudden sharpness, but Kagome only shrugs.

“What? What else could you be worried about? Whether it’s keep you…alive…or not won’t matter if you stay like you are now, right?”

“You won’t…take it.”

“Of course not!”

Kikyou smiles, but it is the saddest smile Kagome has ever seen.

“So you _are_ kind.”

_So kind you are cruel. Cruel in your innocence, Kagome._

#

A/N: Ah…ha. This is a chapter and the title translates to “methods of living” and hopefully you enjoy and sorry I am the slowest updater ever and eek eek eek forgive me! I wrote another book, and then another book, and both are on their way to being published, so hopefully you can forgive me, and I…will try to be less slow. But never fear! Nothing. Is ever! Abandoned! EVER! Also this chapter is dedicated to Fearless Miko, for bunches and bunches of glorious reviews that are 93% responsible for me actually writing this chapter!

Please Review!


	63. Cave Canem

Kagome comes out of the bath and hears yelling before she can even manage to get her clothes on – harsh words in the voice that Kikyou’s memory has taught her.

“ _I’m not going to let you just take over my quest – the old woman even said we’d have to find them, that our destiny was bound up with them. Get over it, wolf. You’re not going to win the shikon no tama just because you’ve found a copy of my woman!”_

The words sting, but not badly – just enough to rile the flash of Kagome’s temper from its long sleep.  In an instant she is pushing past Kikyou, storming down the hall, one hand clutching her towel tight against her chest and the other a furious fist. She slides open the door with a wrathful flourish, and Kouga turns to her at once – but her attention isn’t on him.

She directs the full force of her angry glare in Inuyasha’s direction, and watches his ears wilt with some satisfaction.

“Did I hear you right, Inuyasha? I’m a _copy of your woman_?”

She sees the darting of his eyes, away from her face, down into the corner – she can read his thoughts in the jostling of his expression.

“Oh yes, I heard you – you’re an idiot, you know that? Weren’t you even listening when we were talking before? I’m _Kagome_. She’s _Kikyou_ – and we aren’t the same! There’s five hundred years between us – at least, in the soul we share.”

Inuyasha scowls at her, turns his face to side and lets out a huff of disbelief.

“ _Five hundred years_. Right. I heard Kikyou going on about that earlier, but I can forgive her, whatever’s happened messed with her head, or _something_. What’s _your_ problem? Kikyou died fifty years ago, not five hundred.”

Kagome stares at him, mouth open, then closes it and shakes her head, narrows her eyes at him.

“That’s none of your business – that doesn’t matter. It’s true, that’s all you need to know. Now apologize! And stop yelling at Kouga, the shikon no tama is _my_ responsibility, and no one else’s. I certainly wouldn’t give it to _you_.”

She turns up her nose and looks away from him, but that is the wrong choice to make. Even Kouga doesn’t read Inuyasha’s intentions in enough time to stop him from acting, and in the next moment he has Kagome against the wall, one hand around her throat and the other pinning her hand as she tries to beat at him, mortal strength ineffective even with her life on the line.

 

#

 

A series of impossible events take place one after another, pass before Kouga’s eyes in a series of blinks. _Blink_ , and Kagome is tearing at the Inu-hanyou with her words. _Blink_ , and his hands are reaching out with rage – _blink_ , and she is against the wall, towel falling from her, scent of her blood ripe in the air and the Inu crushing the life out of her.

 _Blink_ , and Kouga moves forward, motion uninterrupted by thought. He knows only _my woman_ and _danger_ , impetus enough to drive him to the utter extreme of his new power in only an instant.

He plucks Inuyasha away from Kagome with a single hand, smells the scent of her blood thicker, fresher, as the Inu-claws drag across the skin of her throat and break the surface. It enrages him as nothing else in his experience has ever done. He holds the hanyou at a distance and drives his fist into his face, again, and again – and again. He hears bones breaking, but that is not enough to stop him.

Not the scent of blood, not the crackling under his fist, not the labored breathing of the Inu he holds by the throat stops him. Instead, it is a single word – Kagome’s voice, his name.

“ _Kouga_.” He pauses, turns to face her, shows her the face of the wolf taking over his flesh, red-eyed destruction, all dark things…but again, she speaks. She reaches out one hand for his arm, touches him, soft, safe, and he _sees_ her, naked, unconcerned in this moment for her own modesty, her own wounds, unconcerned with anything but him.

“Kouga, enough. He didn’t really hurt me – he’s not worth it. And it’ll hurt Kikyou if you kill him.”

He stares at her, _stares_ , red glow receding, then nods once, short and sharply, drops the hanyou and sneers at the slits of his bruised eyes before he turns away.

“For you, Kagome. Since you ask it.”

His voice is rough with wolf-tones, fraught with growls. He stands between Kagome and the hanyou, conceals her body from his vision as best he can, pulls her close to him until she can gather her towel and wrap it around her again.

She looks up at him, bright eyes with the shadow of fear in them still, and he turns and looks at the hanyou lying broken on the ground, unconscious now and his own woman hesitating to go to him.

“What do we do with him? I won’t leave him to hurt you again, Kagome – and we can’t take him with us. The human in the den, that monk – that’s one thing. But I won’t bring this moron.”

Kagome hesitates. He sees her thoughts shifting, her expression changing, but there are no answers there.

 

#

 

“Kouga-sama.”

Kikyou’s voice is quiet and thin – like Kagome’s voice with all the life drained out of it, all the vibrance gone.

“Excuse the interruption, but may I take responsibility for Inuyasha? I know a way –“

She hesitates, then looks up into his face as she continues.

“I know a way to keep him from harming anyone – my sister…Kaede-san gave them to me, just in case.”

Kikyou reaches into her sleeve and pulls out a necklace of connected beads. Kagome draws her breath at the sight of them, and Kouga stares uneasily as a word slips past her lips.

“ _Kotodama_ –“

Kikyou nods.

“Yes. _Kotodama no nenju_ , the beads of subjugation that make a single word a binding power. I made them long ago – to protect Inuyasha from himself. But it seems like many things were broken fifty years ago, more than I knew. Now…now I must return to protecting the world from him, until he is…better.”

Kouga snorts, and tightens his hold on Kagome – yet he cannot deny that this miko, dead or alive, has provided a way out of his dilemma without forcing him to kill the hanyou.

That would displease Kagome.

He watches as Kikyou holds her hands together, the necklace wrapped around them – black shining beads separated and spaced by ivory fangs. She chants in a low voice, and her words are stinging, sharpen themselves on his ears as they enter.

After only a few moments, the beads split apart, separate from the necklace and reform around the hanyou’s throat. They glow with a faint and subtle light. A fragrance comes into the air that is like, and yet unlike, Kagome’s power, and Kouga takes another back.

Kikyou speaks one word.

“ _Tomare_.”

_Stay._

There is a blinding flash – then it is done.

 

* * *

 

A/N: Another chapter, and not nearly as long a wait! No idea how long it will be to the next one – book two of my series goes on pre-order at the end of this month, I’m writing books three and four, and an unrelated book, Wolf of the West, is now in editing and will be out early in the new year! So! More as soon as I can, though deadlines eat my soul, and thank you for the delicious reviews, which continue to inspire me!


	64. Punctum Saliens

The first argument of Kouga and Kagome comes in the form of their disagreement over future plans. Kagome wants to bring Kikyou and the Inu back with them, back to Kouga’s den, back among his people, his pack…and that is the last thing in the world that Kouga wants.

He takes Kagome by the arm, away from Kikyou and the half-conscious hanyou to the corner of the room.

“Everything else you’ve asked me – _anything_ else I could do, but not this, Kagome.”

He fixes her with his eyes, wills her to understand.

“I cannot bring an Inu into my den – among my pack. It would never be forgiven.”

Kagome stares into his face, and sees that he is completely in earnest. It is hurting him to deny her, and knowing what she knows of an Ookami courtship, she knows why. _To please me. His whole purpose, his whole existence is that now. So much –_

And as the thought fills her, she knows she has to drop her pursuit of this thing. If she pushes – if she pushes, despite what he says now, he _will_ give in. He will give in, and something terrible will be the result.

“Kouga – never mind, then. You know best.”

His whole body relaxes, and Kagome senses all her premonitions of horrible things fleeing into some other future.

“But Kouga, can you tell me – why? What’s this feud between Ookami and Inu?”

He casts a dark look over his shoulder, then returns his gaze to her face.

“Can you understand? Will you? A long time ago there were no _Inu_ in this world – only wolves. Wolves, howling together at the moon. But some gave into temptation – riches – females – power – weapons. And they were tamed, at the hands of the _kami_ and some of the greatest among mortal men.”

His eyes burn at her, blue-bright intensity the likes of which she has rarely seen.

“ _Tame_ wolves. Can you understand? Will you? What is a tame wolf, Kagome, if it is not Inu? And that is –“

“I understand.”

She reaches up to touch his cheek, holds him still with the fire in her face, match to his own blaze.

“ _Inu_. That goes against everything you are – that’s…that’s real heresy, isn’t it?”

He nods, once, slowly. Her fingers slip from his cheek to his lips, and her face grows solemn.

“I will never try to tame you, Kouga. Don’t – be afraid?”

She tests the word as if it might not carry the meaning she wants it to.

“And I will – I will try not to be.”

For a moment he can only stare.

 _You, human – how do you understand?_ And then he smiles, all fangs, all for her, and holds himself in a moment of perfect stillness. _No. What’s wrong with me? I chose her for this – for this. How could I have expected her_ not _to understand?_

He crushes her against his body, and kisses her like their very first kiss all over.

#

The audience witnessing the argument that evolves into an enshrinement of love is broken by the scene. It is Kikyou who watches – Inuyasha can only hear. Still, that is more than enough. One hope has shattered in Inuyasha, and in the same instant another has come into being. The thought of Kikyou, a living woman once more – in the sound of Kagome’s voice, in the soft admissions she makes with scent and tone, not even knowing it, he reads a devotion that no past connection will be able to deter.

At the same time, he cannot help but feel a certain warmth. The story is lost on him – who cares about the ancient past, the origins of Inu? He’s only half, anyway – no, that isn’t what concerns him. It is the woman herself, who is just a woman but still willing to love a monster – a beast of the wild forest, a demon, all fangs.

 _She is willing and she wants him, just as he is_.

Could there be someone in the world, some living woman who might look at him that way? It is the first time in his life he has ever had such a thought, and suddenly he regrets a thousand times what he has done – that threat, that fatal endeavor.

Beside him, Kikyou senses his heart turning over and cannot smile, but neither can she bring herself to tears. There is a revelation for her in the scene before her, as much as there was for Inuyasha – something intensely personal, something she can feel changing inside her.

She has never been able to give up the dream of a normal human life. She has never been able to will herself to wholly love Inuyasha – not the way she can on the nights when he is human. The shudder that comes to her when his claws scratch her skin, the recoiling of her whole being when her tongue touches the fangs in his mouth – she has never, never been able to escape it, thought she has often wanted to.

In Kagome, she sees exactly that, her own missing pieces – she sees in the girl the want for the things she has tried to escape all her life.

_You would never have tried to make Inuyasha human, would you, Kagome?_

But she keeps the thought to herself, and turns away. Kagome is lost in her wolf lover – and isn’t that a clue, all on its own? _Your wolf lover,_ miko _Kagome. Miko, who should have no power at all._

“Inuyasha. Inuyasha, can you stand?”

He allows her hands on him, gets to his feet and walks to the door, one hand pressed against the side of his broken face. For one moment, Kikyou looks at the pair before her, imprinting on her mind the image of what it is that is going to come.

_I will be you one day, girl of the future, girl outside time. My soul will learn all the lessons it’s been missing. I will be you one day._

_I will become what you are becoming._

“Kouga-sama.”

The wolf turns to her and the look on his face – it awakens a _feeling_ in her, and she wonders if this is what the girl feels – if this is why she has given in.

“Kouga-sama, Inuyasha and I will return to Edo now. If you have need of us, call. And if there are rumors of the shikon no tama –“

“I’ll send a messenger in spring. Save them until then.”

She turns away without another word, takes Inuyasha’s arm and leaves the two of them behind.

 


	65. More Ferarum

The trek through the snow, back to the den of wolves in Echigo, goes quickly and without much pause. The snow is too deep for Kagome to stand in, the mountains blanketed in feet of white. Kouga runs across the surface, too swift to sink in, but when he _does_ stop, there’s a leap before him when they start again.

She dozes against the broad warmth of his back, on and off as they come down into lands she would find familiar if she could see them beneath the snow. By the time the night is come and the moon is rising, the den is in view, but Kouga has no intention of letting Kagome down until he has to.

The warmth of her, the weight of her, her perfect trust and the curve of her sleeping smile– he loves them, each thing in particular and the woman herself as a whole. He murmurs responses to the greetings that come from those he passes as he enters, but the den is quiet with sleep. Only Ginta is waiting especially for him, but he only grins and nods as he passes, dares not risk waking Kagome and Kouga’s anger at the same time.

Unmolested, eager, breathing the scents of home, Kouga brings Kagome to bed, takes away her cloak and wraps. He can only watch wide-eyed when she strips to bare skin and climbs into his furs, reaches for him with sleep still in her eyes. This is new, not something she’s done before – not even while they were at the baths.

“Come to bed, Kouga? Just until morning – just for a little…while.”

Her words are split by one yawn after another, and he pauses to stare the curve of her, naked in his bed. _Kagome_. He shucks his clothes as fast as he ever has in his life and crawls in beside her, wraps her up in his arms and holds back a groan – so much skin, so much woman.

  _But she needs sleep. She needs her rest, my Kagome. And in the morning…_

He falls asleep with a smile on his face, and dreams heated dreams, all of his woman.

#

Kagome wakes in the dim of the early morning to the unusual sensation of fur everywhere, warm against her skin - more than usual. She only faintly remembers taking off her clothes, getting into bed, reaching for Kouga. He is behind her still, one arm looped over her waist, his nose in her hair – she feels his breath on her neck, tickling, and realizes then that for the first time, she has woken first.

She freezes into stillness, unwilling to wake him, but he is moving behind her, rocking against her and for a moment she thinks she’s already done so. She can feel his erection against her back, rhythmic pulse, rhythmic pressure, and then she hears his muttering, sleeping words that wake a flush of heat.

“ _Kagome. I want…deeper.”_

She licks her lips, tightens her fingers in the fur. _He is still asleep. He is dreaming of me_. The thought arrests her, flushes her body with desire. _He is dreaming of me, of loving me._

Slowly, Kagome turns, and as she does so Kouga turns with her, sprawls on his back with one arm still wrapped around her. She is tempted by his obvious desire – by her own want – she hesitates only because she has yet to reach out and touch him first, has yet to be the one who begins their lust-play.

The heat of his skin attracts her, smooth, a darker tan than her own, and she lets her fingers wander across his chest, over the ridges of muscles in his abdomen...his arousal pulses against her fingers, against her palm. Carefully, her eye on his sleeping face, she leans across his body, slides down against his thigh.

She knows what she wants, and she knows it will please him, but still she hesitates – until she can’t resist desire anymore, until she has leaned forward so far that licking her lips means she is licking the rigid heat of Kouga’s erection. She touches him gently with her tongue, then closes her mouth around him.

It is only then that he wakes, his hands reaching down to her hair, his voice sleepy-startled-groaning, encouraging the heat that’s built between her thighs.

“Kagome – woman, you… _yes, Kagome_.”

#

Kouga wakes to heat wrapped around him, Kagome’s mouth, her tongue, slow movements…tantalizing, sensual. He has been dreaming about her, about the way she will open for him, beg for him. _When you are mine, woman. When you are my mate forever_.

The way she laps at him is teasing, terrible – perfect. He strokes her hair, encourages her to take more of him into her mouth, watches the soft pinkness of her lips stretch around his thickness and can barely hold back.

“So good, Kagome, _so good_.”

She lets out a little moan then, a vibration that shivers intensely through all his nerves. The scent of her arousal winds through the air and slaps him, suddenly strong – he pushes himself up on his elbows, enough that he can look down at her body, see her pressing her thighs together, rocking back and forth.

_She likes this. She likes to do this to me –_

Kagome is experimenting now, her tongue exploring, seeking sensitive places, and Kouga gives them all away with eager groans, with _please_ and _yes, more_ , until she gives him exactly the _more_ he needs, sends him past the point of no return.

“Kagome – _Kagome I –_ “

She moans again, tightens her fingers on his thighs and takes him deeper into her mouth, just a little deeper, and some kind of cry, not a groan, not quite her name, slips past his lips while his climax overtakes him.

When she stops – when he notices she has stopped – she lays panting across his thigh, licking her lips, squirming, pressing her thighs together.

“ _Kagome_.”

She looks up at him and her pupils are dilated, her lips swollen and wet. He was going to tease her a little, ask her when she’d become such a minx, but the words flee from him. She is…so ready. So wanton. _Mine, my woman. Only my woman._

He pulls her up his body, up the bed, lifts himself over her easily and kisses her parted lips.

“Your turn, Kagome.”

Her thighs fall open for his touch.

#

The scent of sex, aroused miko, aroused Alpha, drifts out of Kouga’s chambers and into the rest of the den. Ginta and Hakkaku share a grinning glance – many of the others are riled, stirred to the mating urge.

It has been a long time since their pack has had an Alpha with a woman – an Alpha seeking a mate.

It has been a long time since a scent and power like Kouga’s was stirred from sleep.

“Hakkaku.”

“Hmmm…”

Both voices are lazy, almost drugged.

“Hakkaku, let’s find…Shiori. Let’s find Shiori and drag her away from the pups.”

Very quickly, the den empties of all things but the sounds and scents of lust.

 


	66. Advocatus Diaboli

Days have passed slowly in the wolf den for Miroku, but without the unpleasantness he’d been so afraid of. The one set to watch him is a shadow named Saya – a female, a flash of wolf-tail and sharp eyes that do not come into the light or his full view…but regardless, he thinks her beautiful just from the sound of her voice.

He had talked to her first because he was bored, and then, when she had answered, to hear it. Wild melodies in her voice – _wild_. And in her humor, and her response to the teasing all other woman abandoned themselves to or ran away from…

And yet, that was not all. Not like the others was she – not like the rest of these wolves. The bright eyes that watch him from ledges, doorways, behind the curves of the den’s walls…they hold softness, and curiosity, and the faintest hint of something _other_ beneath the wolfish gleam.

Today, in the wake of the Wolf Alpha’s return, the usual silence and mutter of the den dissolves into laughter and lust. Rutting sounds, musky scents, the cries of names and moans in many voices fill the long corridors.

Today, for the first time, Saya comes out of the shadows, dressed in thin, dark fur, sweat on her skin and a _hunger_ on her face. She comes out of the shadows with her hands already reaching for him, and he thinks that all this must be something to do with Kouga’s return.

He is right – and he is wrong. For some it is a reason, and for some, like the one reaching for him, wrapping around him, it is an excuse.

“Miroku, you’re mine.”

“Saya-sama –“

“Mine, all mine. Look at me – I know you’ve wanted to. Look at me – touch me. I’ve wanted to know if everything you said was true, I’ve wanted to know _you_. Human, what is it…to be human?”

He laughs, touches her cheek and finds her _hot_ , threads his fingers into her hair and succumbs to the inevitable pressure of her lips against his mouth.

“What is it a youkai needs to know about being human?”

She smiles at him, a secret smile, and shakes her head.

“Nothing I will share with you – but I will share with you.”

He wonders if this is a ploy of the Wolf Alpha, if this is just youkai ways –if it’s the one particular female with her hands stripping his robes from his skin.

He wonders, but he does not think. He will think _later_.

* * *

 

Kouga touches Kagome with careful fingers, so careful, too careful, a fluttering tease that draws moans out of her mouth and leads her hips up into his touch. She’s learned eagerness at his hands, enough to deal shame a death blow, make her all but wanton. When she wants more, she asks for it, asks as he has taught her, but now for the first time he holds back even when she begs.

“ _Kouga_. Empty, Kouga, so empty – _please_ –“

“Can’t, I can’t.”

“Kouga…”

His fingers skim soft wetness, dip inside her. _Hot_. So hot. He wants her more than he wants to breathe, and her words, her naked skin as she turns against him are no help for self-control. Yet it comes to him. Instinct compels him to hold back. _Not now. Not yet. Not mate._

The growl is richer inside him than the want, the only thing that remains for him to cling to. But in this moment, for the first time Kagome’s humanity is dangerous – to her, to him. Not to what he wants, and what he’s been waiting for; never that.

But her skin is soft is beckoning and fragile, and he is youkai – Ookami – the Wolf, before and after all other things. Before and after _Kouga_ , the one who’d chosen Kagome to be his woman…the one who had gentled her, protected her from all dark things.

_I am dark things._

* * *

 

“ _Kagome_.”

She looks up at the sound of her name in the voice of the Wolf, deeper, darker, laughing even in its silences.

“ _Bad girl,_ Kagome.”

She takes a breath but it catches in her throat when his thumb moves across the soft pearl of nerves he has been teasing.

“I can’t give you what you want. You know that – you, who have not yet said _yes_.”

Slow circles, the pad of his thumb torments her, sends heat looping down from his touch to the balls of her toes and back, up into the whirlpool in her belly, the liquid current that thrives and writhes under his stimulation, the rhythm for which she begs the missing beats.

“Kouga – Kouga – _please_ , I need – inside me – something – so _empty_.”

His eyes are red over her, blue consumed and all his desires bared before her, skeletons of want and need, brittle bones bent to show her marrow.

“ _Empty_. You want me inside you, Kagome? You want something _inside you_?”

He bends over her mouth and kisses her, bites her lip until she bleeds and licks at the wounds. Soft and stinging the pain joins the unutterable sensations spiraling through her, and she breathes her affirmation against his lips.

“Want – _need – Kouga please –_ “

“ _Don’t move_.”

“Kouga –“

“ _Don’t_. _Move_.”

He bends his mouth to her, licks up the spilled sweetness of her body, then presses two fingers _inside_. Her heart beats wild in her throat. Stretched now, squeezing tight around his intrusion, she can feel the prick of his claws in her thigh where he is holding her, the warm blood spilling down her skin, and she knows why he’s forbidden her any motion. His fingers move inside her quick and roughly, rapid thrusts and over them the hot lash of his tongue.

She stays still, her awareness full of _sharpness_ , but even as he’s rough he’s careful, and she cannot get enough. The red of his eyes – the wild restraint of his muscles trembling wherever she touches him – the growl in his voice when he asks her if two fingers is enough.

She comes undone, and for the first time the grasping of her body has something of him to cling to. She is sated, and still she wants _more._ The more she knows he will deny her until he, too, has what he wants.

_What I want._

_What I…_

_Want?_

He lays over her, draws her hands down his body to the hard throb of his arousal, murmuring, all but begging himself, and Kagome licks his throat while she strokes him. In one moment, she is overcome by three things.

Her want for him – her need for him – and the way they are expanding within her, seeking the future. Seeking _forever_ , the dream she has not yet dared to touch.


	67. Graviora Manet

Days pass, and the first month of the year goes by in cold stillness, full of the falling of the snow. Kouga waits breathless within himself for the first night of the full moon, for the run that is coming. This month, this moon, he will not run alone. He wants Kagome with him, beside him, running with him - and though that cannot be he knows he can carry her, his woman, have her on his back and near him.

That will be enough. That will be…something. _Beautiful_. He must do this thing, must have her beside him not only for his wants but for his needs. It is the other half of courtship. She must learn him – grow to know him. _All of me, Kagome._ The lighter half of his being, the Kouga she already knows…and the half of himself that is dark things. The wild unleashed.

The half of him that once kissed her with blood on his mouth.

He thinks she is growing used to _it_ , too. The Wolf that he is, the Wolf that defies her expectations of youkai. He thinks that if he asks her she will say yes, just as she says yes now to all other things…but the time has not yet been right.

Kouga watches her now as he always watches her, even when she is not aware of it – by scent, by sound, by sight, he does not let her leave the range of his knowledge. His precious woman, he will keep her safe from everything and anything.

He has not forgotten the darkness that begins in the north, the darkness he encountered when first he went seeking a way to attack the harpies. He tracks it, watches as it encroaches on other borders. It comes ever closer, as if seeking the boundaries of his territory – the scent of it, the feel of it, is an oily slickness that corrupts his senses and perhaps his soul, lingers clammy on his skin and drives him again and again to be certain of Kagome’s safety.

Kouga knows without knowing that if that power touches her, something terrible will come of it.

He only wishes he could define to himself what _something terrible_ is.

* * *

 

Shippou stares through the undergrowth, through the trees. He is bad at listening, always has been. He shouldn’t be here now, should have waited in the den as he was told, but the silence there in his mother’s absence drove him out following the path of his father’s vengeance.

_Papa?_

The blue of his father’s fox-fire is a cascade of brilliance, the force of a waterfall the likes of which the world has never seen, and still the lightning his enemy wields shatters it into a storm of tiny droplets that beat with cutting force. Power, power and light. They detonate reality into shards of sight sharper than glass.

“Papa!”

The fire is dying, and in its wake Fox-bright eyes are closing in a final surrender.

“ _Papa!”_

The fat one laughs, and laughs, and laughs, and the one with the terrible weapon descends finally from the sky, moves forward with his arms crossed and looks down at the fallen body of his foe, Kitsune smoking with the futile failure of his own flames.

 _Despair, despair. Not papa too._ In Shippou’s thoughts is his mother as he had last seen her, blood streaming from her body, the warm green of her eyes blinded by red.

He cannot close his eyes when the blade goes up, and down, pierces his father’s throat and spills the tide of his life across the ground. A whimper escapes him, but only one. All he can think is that there is no point in crying now. The most terrible thing has happened, and now-

He hears words, and within him something curdles like old cream.

“Heh, heh, Hiten! It’d be a shame to let a nice pelt like this one go to waste, don’t you think?”

“What, this old thing? You like it, Manten?”

“Don’t you think the shade matches my hair? It’s perfect!”

“Well, it’ll be a messy job, but just for you, little brother.”

Shippou watches the blade come up and down again…and again. He looks because he cannot turn away. He watches because his muscles have frozen, his bones dissolved to gelid jelly. Fingers work under the fur, under the skin, and beneath them his father’s flesh is revealed as streaming gore.

He can’t scream the scream that is choking him. Bile burns in his throat, but he watches – he watches.

Shippou sees it _all_.

* * *

 

Many strange things are noted in the den of the wolves of Echigo as the day of the full moon arrives. The silent and often-irritable Saya has spent much of her time smiling, and more still in the company of a human deemed dangerous by all but a few. Kouga observes, as he sees Kagome observe, but what incites her to smiles only confuses him.  What does Saya see in the human? She has her own difficulties, her own strangeness…is that enough to explain?  

That he himself loves a human woman doesn’t factor into his thoughts. Kagome is different, and her difference has its obvious explanation. The man is…just a man. It occurs to him finally that perhaps _that_ is the reason. He listens when she asks him to run with her – scowls, then shrugs almost at once. If she would carry him, let her.

“ _But I will run beside you, Saya – I can do that, you know.”_

_“Can you, Miroku? Can you run beside the Ookami while the full of the moon beats in our blood?”_

_“You’ll just have to wait and see won’t you?”_

Kouga turns away and considers that if this man is willing to run with Saya, then Kagome will _certainly_ run with him. He follows the strongest thread of her scent and finds her in the snow, crawling through tunnels in the deep drifts, laughing with the pups that pounce on her.

Warmth suffuses him. One day, they will be _his_ pups she is laughing with. _Our pups, Kagome_.

“Woman, it looks cold in there – come out and come warm up with me.”

Her glance turns to him over her shoulder, nothing startled in it.

“I felt you coming – Miroku’s been teaching me how.”

There is pride in her voice, but she struggles back out of the snow and stands, brushing white powder from her robes. When she is close enough, Kouga takes her in his arms despite the damp of the snow that melts on his skin.

“Tonight is the full moon, Kagome. Tell me you’ll run with me – tell me you’ll run with the pack.”

She pulls back from his chest to look up at him, bemused.

“Run with you? You’ve got some idea of how I’m to do that, I suppose? I’d never keep up, and I can’t run in the snow –“

“I’ll carry you. You can sit on my back, and you’ll be as safe as if you were here in bed, so say yes, Kagome.”

She wrinkles her nose at him.

“Yes, Kagome.”

But she laughs at his scowl, tightens her arms around his waist and kisses him.

“Of course I will, Kouga, of course I will. What time do we leave? Where are we running to?”

He rubs his cheek against her cheek and speaks close to her ear.

“When the moon rises. Where the moon calls us.”

He feels her shiver in his arms, and knows it is not from the cold, and smiles.

* * *

 

The moon rises over Echigo, and the voices of a hundred wolves wail to greet it.

The moon rises over Shippou, and he swears vengeance on the grave he’s dug through frozen ground with bleeding hands.

The moon rises over Inuyasha, sitting vigil over a sputtering fire while Kikyou lays in the trance or sleep that has overcome her every night since they left the youkai onsen behind.

The moon rises over the north, and is eclipsed by the sudden boil of a potent miasma – by the odor and presence of whatever rot is spreading outward.


End file.
